


The Flash

by cazmalfoy



Series: Barry & Sebastian Allen [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Multiple Personalities, Secondary Personality, Twin Allens - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-05-24 09:21:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 86,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6148888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For as long as he could remember, Barry had been able to hear two voices in his head. His own and another, who he had dubbed Sebastian.</p><p>Sebastian was everything Barry had always wanted to be; charming, confident and not afraid of anything.</p><p>Of course, he also had a habit of getting Barry into trouble, even before they got struck by lightning and woke up with super powers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a result of too much Sebastian Smythe & Barry Allen, and not enough sleep.
> 
> There are mentions at the beginning of this chapter to taking medication to cure Barry's 'disorder'. This is in no way meant to trivialise Borderline Personality Disorder, or any form of mental illness; this is purely for entertainment purposes only.
> 
> This story takes place over the whole of season 1 of the Flash, and will include characters from Arrow. There is no main pairing in this story, although there are Oliver/Sebastian elements later.
> 
> Any sections of dialogue in italics are mental/silent between Sebastian and Barry.
> 
> The only love Barry and Iris feel for each other is as brother and sister. This is an Iris friendly fix, but not for Barry/Iris fans.

PTSD they had called it.

A coping mechanism eleven year-old Barry had created to help him deal with the trauma of seeing his father brutally murder his mother. 

Over the years, Barry had seen dozens of therapists who had tried to cure him, but none of them had bothered to try and fully understand the extent of the issue.

There was no way any of them could know that Sebastian had been around far longer than Nora Allen had been dead.

Barry couldn’t honestly say there was a time when he didn’t remember hearing two voices in his head. One was his own, the one he displayed to the outside world more often than not. The other, Sebastian, sounded like he did - he had the same accent and lilt on certain words - but there was something about him that made him very different from Barry.

Sebastian wasn’t afraid of _anything_. What normally scared Barry, Sebastian was usually more than willing to give a go. When he spoke, people around listened. When he walked, shoulders back, head up, people paid attention.

He was everything, shy, bullied Barry Allen had always wanted to be, but had been too afraid to even try. 

Now, after twenty years of practice, flitting between the two personalities had become so commonplace that it didn’t feel like Barry had some kind of disorder. He felt like Barry and Sebastian Allen were two separate entities, who just happened to exist within the same body. 

The night his mom had been killed had opened Barry’s eyes to a lot of things, one of which was the knowledge that there were things out there that he couldn’t explain. The man in yellow being one of them. 

After that, he couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian’s presence in his mind was something similar; an impossible thing that he couldn’t explain, but existed nevertheless. 

Maybe he wasn’t crazy, after all. 

Choosing who to tell about Sebastian hadn’t been difficult for Barry, at all; not that he’d really had much of a say in the matter. He had never intended to admit the truth to anyone. He was used to people judging him for believing in the possible; the last thing he needed was people to _know_ he was as insane as they all thought. 

After _that_ night, he had been adopted by Joe West, father of Barry’s best friend and the police officer who had been responsible for arresting Henry Allen. 

At first, hiding Sebastian from Joe and Iris had been easy - he was used to having discussions in his head - but the more he had become comfortable with them, the more he had started to let his guard down and he started to have conversations with Sebastian out-loud, just like he was used to. His parents had never questioned him; they had always assumed he, like most children, had an imaginary friend. 

It hadn’t taken Joe and Iris long to figure out that something was different about Barry, and there was no imaginary friend. Even though they had been confused at first and initially insisted that there was something wrong with him. They had tried almost every doctor and shrink in Central City, but none of them had been able to get rid of Sebastian. 

Barry had been thirteen when they had eventually accepted that maybe there was no losing Sebastian and, when Barry had decided to stop taking the medication that hadn’t been working anyway, they had stood by him and accepted Sebastian as a member of the family as much as they had Barry. Over the years the pair of them had become experts at being able to tell which personality they were talking to, and even they treated Sebastian like he was a completely different person to Barry. 

It wasn’t something that frequently came up in conversation, but Barry was grateful to them for not treating him like a freak, and forcing him to follow the pointless orders from the numerous doctors. 

In the end, they all knew there was nothing any of them could do. 

The only person who could fix Barry Allen, was Barry himself. And, the older he got, the more he was starting to think maybe there was nothing to fix after all.

***

It had been Sebastian’s idea to visit Starling City. Barry had been completely dead set against lying to Singh about having a bad case of food poisoning, but Sebastian had taken control of their body and made the call for him.

When Barry had come face to face with the prodigal son that was Oliver Queen, he had been sure to keep Sebastian suppressed in his mind; something he had learnt to do after an argument the day after his tenth birthday. Barry was the primary; that meant he was stronger than Sebastian and could block him from speaking or acting if he wanted. Sebastian, as the secondary personality, was still strong, but didn’t have the power to suppress Barry or resist when the primary wanted him to do something. 

One thing Sebastian wasn’t shy about was their attraction to the same sex. Barry had never even admitted his preferences out-loud, but Sebastian had no such qualms.

Barry was certain that if he had let Sebastian get within ten feet of Oliver, the alter ego wouldn’t have stopped until he had been on his knees underneath the billionaire.

Really it had been for everyones safety.

Not that Sebastian saw it that way. Barry had finally unsuppressed him when they’d been on the way back to Central City, and Sebastian had been complaining for the whole journey.

Two hours later, he still wasn’t over it.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t let me out!” Sebastian moaned, pouting and folding his arms across his chest. They were in Barry’s lab at the police station and it was late in the evening, so he didn’t bother to keep their conversation silent. “We met Oliver frickin’ Queen, and I was trapped inside your head! Do you have any idea how hard it was, knowing he was so close but I couldn’t touch that _beautiful_ body?” He was barely able to stop himself from stomping his foot like a small child.

Barry snickered but didn’t respond. He knew there was no reasoning with Sebastian when he got into the mood he currently was. It was just easier to let him ride it out. He’d get over it, eventually.

“Why aren’t you ready yet?” a familiar voice asked from the door and Barry turned to see Iris glaring at him, with her hands on her hips. “You’ve made us later than we planned by missing your train back - as usual. We’re supposed to be at STAR labs in, like, ten minutes.”

Sebastian groaned. “God, do we have to?” He rolled his eyes. “Can’t we just watch it on tv like a normal person?”

Iris’s eyes narrowed as she stepped further into the room. “Barry has been looking forward to tonight for months, Seb.” She took his hands in hers and squeezed gently. “Please don’t ruin this for him.”

The alter ego rolled his eyes again, but couldn’t stop a smile from twitching the corner of his mouth. Barry wasn’t the only one of them who had a soft spot for Iris West. There generally wasn’t anything either of them wouldn’t do for her. And she definitely knew how to play them against each other.

“Fine,” Sebastian muttered. “But if I have to put up with boring science stuff _again_ , someone owes me the best Chinese food in Central City and hot guys making out.”

Iris grinned widely and pressed a kiss against her best friend’s lips. “You’re amazing,” she squealed, throwing her arms around him.

“Please don’t encourage him,” Barry requested, hugging Iris once before stepping back. “You know how insufferable he can be when you inflate his ego.”

His friend laughed and shook her head. “Oh gee, I wonder where he gets that from,” she retorted, looping her arm through Barry’s when he offered it to her. “Come on, Mr Allen. Let’s go see what’s so impressive about this Particle Accelerator thingy.”

***

Barry was being unnaturally silent in his mind and Sebastian didn’t like it. Even when he was the one controlling their body - usually when anything sexual or unnerving was involved - Sebastian could always hear the other personality’s voice echoing in the back of his mind, occasionally commenting on what was happening.

Right then, there was nothing, and it was freaking him out.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Sebastian said when they got back to the lab, trying to draw Barry into conversation the best way he knew how. Talk about science. He had no idea what had stopped the Particle Accelerator from functioning like it was supposed to - he really didn’t understand a single word of science - but even he was pretty sure it couldn’t have been helped.

“Leave me alone,” Barry retorted, petulance in his tone. “Coming back for it was a pointless waste of time. We might as well have stayed in Starling with Oliver, at least then we would have had some fun with him.”

Well, that wasn’t good. There were few things Barry favoured over science, and he _never_ discussed their sexuality so openly; in fact Sebastian had never known Barry to even admit he preferred men out-loud - that was strictly Sebastian’s area of expertise.

Things were worse than he thought.

“There was no way anyone could know that the accelerator wasn’t going to work like it should,” Sebastian tried to reason, but he could feel the stubbornness coursing through him. There was no changing Barry’s mind about this, that much was obvious. But that didn’t mean Sebastian wasn’t going to try. He was stubborn as well.

That was when Sebastian felt something he hadn’t from Barry for a long time. True force. It was stronger than it had been in Starling City when Sebastian had been kept at bay to keep him away from Oliver Queen. Barry wanted to silence him fully for the first time since their mom had been killed.

“What are you doing?” Sebastian demanded, but Barry continued suppressing him. “Stop it.”

“Leave me alone, Seb.” 

There was nothing Sebastian could do to fight it, not that he didn’t try. Barry was the primary personality; he was the stronger of the two. All he could do was watch silently as Barry flicked the news on, and stood glumly in front of the screen as the - admittedly gorgeous - reporter, Li Park, tried to conceal his panic when there was a loud explosion in the background.

Huffing a sigh, Barry flicked the tv off before freezing in place, the view from the window in front of him catching his eye. Normally he couldn’t see STAR labs from his window, but right at that moment that entire portion of the city was lit up like some strange Fourth of July firework show.

It was then that Barry remembered the skylight had been left open earlier; the ammonia he had used in a quick test for Singh had stunk up the place like nothing else.

Sebastian was the first to register the flash of lightning that lit up the sky. He tried desperately to take control of Barry; they needed to let go of the chain _immediately_. But Barry wasn’t letting him do anything and he definitely wasn’t listening to him. 

Barry only realised what was happening when he felt the first touch of electricity on his skin. He was flung backwards across his lab, crashing into the shelving unit on the opposite side of the room.

Inside his head, he could hear Sebastian urgently demanding to know if he was okay, but Barry couldn’t reply; his entire body felt like it had been paralysed, and he felt like his heart going too slow to be normal. He couldn’t even think.

All he could manage before everything went black was, _I’m sorry._

***

Barry could hear music, and it wasn’t even good music. It sounded like… Lady Gaga? Since when did he listen to Lady Gaga?

He forced his eyes open, and immediately regretted that decision. Wherever he was, was far too bright to be legal.

From somewhere to his left, he heard someone exclaim, “Oh my god!” before two people came into view. A female with strict features and wavy brown hair, and a Latino guy, with long hair who didn’t look much older than he was. “He’s awake.”

As he pushed himself into an upright position, with two pairs of hands following his movement, Barry became aware that he was hooked up to at least six different machines. What the hell happened to him?

“What’s your name?” the female doctor asked, shining a light in his eyes before he could stop her. “Full name.”

Barry groaned and tried to push her hand away, before stopping when she glared at him. “Bartholomew Sebastian Allen,” he answered when she finished, blinking rapidly in an attempt to get rid of the dots he could see.

“Caitlin Snow,” she introduced herself, scribbling something onto a piece of paper.

“I’m Cisco Ramon.” Cisco held his hand out to Barry, which he shook absent-mindedly.

“What happened?” Barry questioned, looking around him.

He had no idea where he was; some form of lab, if the computers and scientific equipment were any indicators. But that didn’t really narrow it down much.

“Dude, you were struck by lightning!” Cisco answered, a grin spreading across his face as though it were the best thing that could have ever happened. The smile dimmed a little and he added, “You were in a coma.”

Shock flew through Barry’s body, quickly followed by a barrage of memories from that night. “For how long?” he asked, looking down at his hands.

“Nine months,” a new voice said from across the room. Barry quickly looked up and felt the air inside his lungs disappear at the sight of Doctor Harrison Wells - the man he had practically idolised for years, and who had built the particle accelerator - on the opposite side of the room. “Welcome back, Mr Allen. We have a lot to discuss.”

The thought of discussing _anything_ with Harrison Wells made Barry feel like a little kid all over again, but before he could say anything, someone else spoke.

 _“Great. I get to deal with you drooling over your hero now.”_ Sebastian’s voice echoing in his mind made him physically jump, making those around him start in surprise as well.

“Are you okay, Mr Allen?” Harrison asked, taking his glasses off and regarding Barry with a calculated stare.

Barry ran a hand over the back of his neck and mumbled, “Yeah. I… I’m fine. Is there a bathroom around here?”

The young woman lifted her hand, pointing to the left and Barry had moved before she’d even realised. Quickly, he shut the door behind him, locking it firmly, before heading over to the mirror.

He looked exhausted, but apart from that he didn’t seem too much different. He didn’t even have a beard - someone must have been shaving him while he’d been unconscious.

“Seb?” he whispered, staring at his own reflection intently.

He almost cried with relief when he heard the usual familiar drawl in his mind. _“I’m still here, Bar,”_ Sebastian assured him. _“You might want to keep the conversations mental, though. Unless you want a bunch of scientists to come in here and realise we’re crazy.”_

A chuckle escaped Barry’s mouth, and he quickly tried to cover it up with a cough. _“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,”_ he apologised, following Sebastian’s advice and continuing the conversation in their mind rather than out loud. _“I shouldn’t have pushed you away like that.”_

“ _No, you shouldn’t,”_ Sebastian agreed with his usual level of bluntness. “ _But I know why you did. At least we’re both okay. The lightning could have done more than knock us into a coma for a few months.”_

Dread filled Barry at his words and he knew it wasn’t his own he was feeling. It was Sebastian’s. The lightning could have merged the two halves of their personality, or gotten rid of the secondary one completely. He could have lost Sebastian forever.

Barry’s eyes travelled over his reflection, looking for any outward signs that he should feel different. There wasn’t much that had changed, except… “ _Wow_ ,” Sebastian murmured, running his hands over his torso. “ _Lightning gave us abs. These are going to get all the boy’s attention.”_  

A knock on the door interrupted whatever response Barry had been about to give, and he heard Cisco calling through to him, “You okay in there, Dude?”

“Erm, yeah, ‘m fine. I’ll be out in a minute,” Barry responded, looking back to his reflection. _“Look, you said it yourself, they’re all scientists out there,”_ he addressed Sebastian. “ _Please try to not do something that’ll make them use us as an experiment.”_

Sebastian rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. _“Well, at least being struck by lightning hasn’t changed the fact that you’re a boring stick in the mud.”_

_“I’m serious, Seb.”_

“ _Fine_ ,” the alter ego huffed. _“I promise I’ll be on my best, boring behaviour.”_

Barry cracked a smile. “ _That’s all I can ask.”_

***

Barry couldn’t believe he was walking through the corridors of STAR labs, talking to one of his heroes as though they were… not quite equals, but almost friends. In the back of his mind, he could hear Sebastian mocking him, but he didn’t care. The science nerd in him was having the time of his life; he was going to enjoy it while he could.

“Nine months ago,” Harrison was explaining, “the particle accelerator went online, exactly as planned. For forty-five minutes I had achieved my life’s dream and then, there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped, energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky, and that in turn seeded a storm-cloud…”

“Which created a lightning bolt that struck me,” Barry finished for him.

Harrison hummed in agreement. “That’s right. I was recovering myself when I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you went into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis. You weren’t flat-lining, Barry. Your heart was beating too fast for the EKG to register. I’m not the most popular person in the world at the minute, but Detective West and his daughter gave me permission to bring you here and we were able to stabilise you.”

“Iris?” Sebastian asked for them both. 

Wells smiled thinly. “Iris, yes. She came to see you quite often.”

“I need to go,” Barry said, looking around, already trying to work out the easiest way out of the building.

Caitlin shook her head. “You can’t.”

“Caitlin is right,” Harrison agreed. “Now that you’re awake, we need to do more tests. You’re still going through changes, there’s so much we don’t know.”

Barry was never going to be able to convince them to leave him alone, and he knew it. Now it was Sebastian’s turn. “I’m fine, really. I feel normal,” Sebastian insisted, managing to be insistent and polite, which surely had to be a first for him. “Look, thank you for saving my life and everything, but I really do need to go.”  
  
***

Jitters looked exactly as it had the last time Barry had been inside. In fact everything looked the same; it didn’t feel as though he had lost nine months of his life. Pushing the doors open, he was barricaded with a wall of sound and it was only Sebastian taking control that stopped him from turning tail and heading back out into the peace and quiet.

Iris was standing near the coffee bar, collecting a cup from the counter. Even she didn’t look different; she was still as beautiful and amazing as ever.

 _“Are you sure you’re gay?”_ Sebastian asked in his head, but Barry ignored him. Just because he wasn’t interested in sleeping with his best friend didn’t mean that he couldn’t admire how wonderful she was.

Having collected the order, Iris turned to deliver it and that was when she came face to face with Barry. She drew in a gasp and released her grip on the cup, which went crashing to the floor before  anyone registered what was happening.

“Barry?” she breathed, covering up her mouth when he nodded. “Oh my god, you’re okay,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him as tight as she could. “How long have you been awake?” she asked, not letting him go.

“I just woke up,” Barry answered, letting her keep hugging him until the issue of breathing became an issue. “Erm, Iris. I can’t breathe.”

Iris let out an embarrassed chuckle and loosened her grip on him, although she didn’t let go of him completely. “Should you even be on your feet?” When he frowned, she added, “I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying over and over again. Your heart wouldn’t stay beating.”

Barry offered her a small, sad smile and placed his hand over hers. “You feel that?” he asked, running their hands down his chest, so he could press her palm over his heart. “It’s still beating.”

Iris released a breath of air. “It’s beating really fast,” she observed.

“Probably the adrenaline of being awake after long,” Barry theorised. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m in one piece.”

His words seemed to strike a chord with Iris and she looked up at him with a slightly panicked expression on her face. “You don’t mean…”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “You don’t think a pesky bolt of lightning can get rid of me, do you?” he asked.

Relief washed over Iris’s features and she threw her arms around Sebastian, hugging him even tighter than she had before. “Don’t do that to me,” she scolded, swatting him on the arm. “I was worried that something had happened to you.”

Sebastian smiled softly and pressed a kiss to his best friend’s forehead. “I promise you, Iris. We’re both as perfect as we always have been.”

Looking behind Iris, Barry saw two waitresses collide in an attempt to serve everyone as quickly as they could. That was when something impossible happened. Time slowed down, the people around him began to move at a hundredth of what they had previously. Barry acted on impulse, some strange muscle memory he didn’t even know he had. He dove forward, catching the falling cups and plates, and placing them on the tray again.

He was back in front of Iris before he even knew it, and she acted like nothing had even happened.

 _“What the hell was that?”_ Sebastian demanded inside his head.  
  
***

The police station was the next stop on Barry and Sebastian’s welcome back tour. Although it did look like he arrived back at the least opportune moment. Joe was practically on his way out, when Barry stepped out of the elevator.

“Barry?” Joe exclaimed, taking a step back in surprise at the sight of his adoptive son up and around for the first time in nine months. 

Barry grinned in greeting. “Hey, Joe.” He didn’t get more time to react, before he was drawn into a hug that was even tighter than the one he had received from Iris.

“Damn, kid,” Joe murmured, pressing his face against Barry’s neck. “You scared the life out of me.”

“I’m okay,” Barry assured the police officer, returning the hug just as fiercely. “We both are,” he added, remembering Iris’s reaction to thinking Sebastian wasn’t around anymore.

Relief washed over Joe’s face when he realised what Barry was telling him without saying the words. “Thank god,” he breathed. “We’ve only just started getting used to the asshole. We’re not ready to lose him yet.”

“Aw, Joe. I love you too,” Sebastian cooed, squeezing Joe a little bit firmer to make it clear that he actually meant what he was saying.

Their moment was broken by Captain Singh approaching them. Even though Barry was pretty sure the police chief only put up with him because of Joe, the other man actually looked relieved to see Barry up and around. “That was quite a nap you took there, baby face.” Barry shuffled self consciously on the spot. “You still look twelve.”

Inside his head, Sebastian was trying his hardest to take control and speak his mind, just like he always wanted to do whenever someone commented on how young Barry looked. Luckily, Barry had learnt very quickly to keep the alter ego quiet if he wanted to keep his job.

“Youthful complexion,” Barry managed to answer before a policewoman he didn’t recognise arrived at Joe’s side.

“Detective West, we’ve got a 5-50 in progress at Gold City Bank. Two dead. Storm’s really picking up on the South side.”

Joe scowled minutely, but nodded his head before turning back to Barry. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Barry nodded. “I swear, I’m fine. Go do your job.” He paused for a beat, before adding, “Do you need any help?”

Singh was the first to respond. “You’ve only just woken up, Allen. You need to ease yourself back in. There’ll be plenty for you to do once you’ve settled in.”

He wasn’t too happy about being sidelined - he didn’t like feeling useless - but deep down, Barry knew that Singh was right. Even though he felt perfectly fine, it wasn’t the best idea to dive straight back into work.

They said their goodbyes, with Barry promising to stop by Joe’s house later that evening, before Barry made his way out of the precinct. As he got to the elevator, the doors were just closing and he put on a bit of speed to make it before they shut.

Just like earlier in the coffee shop, the world seemed to slow down as Barry rushed forward. The doors hadn’t even moved an inch when he found himself standing in the centre of the - thankfully empty - elevator.

As soon as he stopped, the world started moving at the normal speed once more and the doors closed.

When he reached out to press the first floor button, Barry paused halfway there. His body was _vibrating -_ almost too fast to see.

“Well, that’s going to come in handy,” Sebastian remarked, curling his fingers to make a fist.

***

 _“I’m not going out there,”_ Sebastian stated, looking at their reflection in the mirror. “ _You can’t make me.”_

Barry snorted and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t often he was the one willing to do something; Sebastian was usually the one who convinced him to things he ordinarily wouldn’t do. _“Yes, I can.”_

Sebastian pouted and folded his arms across his chest. _“I don’t like it when you suppress me,_ ” he whined.

 _“Stop being such a brat and I won’t,”_ Barry chided, moving away from the mirror and heading to the door of trailer.

Cisco was ready and waiting for him when he left the trailer. “How does it fit?” he asked as soon as the door opened.

“It’s a little snug,” Sebastian snarked.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Cisco’s lips, and Barry could tell that he was suppressing a full-blown laugh. “At least you’ll be moving so fast no one will see,” he tried to console Barry. It didn’t work. “See, you thought the world was slowing down, it wasn’t. You were moving so fast that it only looked like everyone else was standing still. Doctor Wells will be monitoring your energy output, and Caitlin your vitals.”

 _“Was that even in English?”_ Sebastian asked inside his head. Barry ignored him.

Instead, he focused on Cisco. “What do you do?” he asked.

Cisco’s smirk quickly morphed into a full blown grin. “I make the toys, man.” He held up a small gadget which looked barely bigger than a bluetooth headset. “Check it. This is a two way headset with a camera I modified. Typically designed to combat battlefield impulse noise or, in your case, potential sonic booms.” If possible his grin got wider, and Barry couldn’t help smile in response. “Which would be awesome.”

Barry couldn’t help but laugh at those words. He was starting to like Cisco; he had a very amusing sense of humour.

“Whenever you’re ready, Mr Allen,” Wells’s voice interrupted their conversation.

 _“This is going to be fun.”_ Sebastian was practically buzzing with excitement at the prospect of seeing what they might be able to do.

Just like before, the world around Barry seemed to slow down until everyone else practically stopped. Only, this time he knew he was the one who was actually moving faster. He could feel the wind rushing through his hair, brushing past his skin and almost managing to take his breath away.

He had no idea how fast he was going. To him, he felt like he was barely moving; putting little more effort into it than he would a light jog. But, the scientist in him, knew that the air wouldn’t be moving so rapidly if he were barely doing anything.

Completely unwarranted, an image sprung into his mind. An image he had tried his hardest to get rid of. His mother was on her knees in their old living room, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded with him to run. All around her were streaks of red and yellow lightning. Lightning no one had believed he’d seen.

When the face of the man in yellow - his mother’s true murderer - appeared in front of his eyes, Barry lost his footing, and stumbled. The speed he was travelling at meant he couldn’t stop himself from falling face first into a group of barrels.

“Ow,” Sebastian grumbled as they collapsed on the asphalt, breathing heavily and clutching his definitely broken hand to his chest.

***

It was almost midnight when Barry returned to his apartment and flopped down onto his bed. After his little crash out on the tarmac, Caitlin had been determined to make sure he was still functioning properly.

Needless to say when she told him that he’d had a distal radius fracture, but it had already started to heal, Barry hadn’t believed her. But then he’d seen the x-rays and realised that she was right.

Apparently, the lightning storm hadn’t just given him super speed. He’d also acquired enhanced healing.

As soon as Caitlin had cleared him to leave, Barry had left STAR labs and headed straight for his childhood home. Even though he had promised Joe that they would spend the evening together, when he got there he had found out that his adoptive father had been forced to stay at work. Instead, Barry had spent the night catching up on nine months worth of gossip with Iris.

He would never admit it, but he had been afraid to go home. His apartment had been maintained by his family while he’d been in a coma, so he knew he wouldn’t be facing a rotting fridge and a stack of bills.

Barry was afraid to go to sleep in case he didn’t wake up for another nine months.

“If you can’t sleep, I can think of something that will tire us out,” Sebastian said, just as images flashed up in Barry’s mind.

He screwed his eyes closed. The images were of a very naked Oliver Queen, leaning over him, looking down at him with the half-bemused, half-irritated smirk he’d had when they had been in Starling City.

Sebastian took Barry’s lack of objection as an opportunity to take control. He kept his eyes closed and focused on his mental image of Oliver. He could practically feel the other man’s weight against his body as he ran his hands over his chest.

The newly acquired abs felt awesome under his hands, even through the material of his t-shirt. Especially since he hadn’t had to work to get them. Sebastian couldn’t wait to go to the club and take them on a test drive.

Imaginary Oliver was busy kissing his way down his neck, and Sebastian arched his back a little, tilting his head to the side for easier access. As Oliver continued working on giving him a prominent love bite, Sebastian palmed his cock through his jeans.

A wicked thought crossed his mind and Sebastian actually felt himself start in surprise. The idea hadn’t even come from himself. It had been from Barry; Mr Sexually-Repressed-Barry-Allen wanted him to use their super speed to vibrate his hand.

Sebastian moaned lightly, but didn’t immediately do what Barry suggested. That would feel so much better if he were naked, and there weren’t any layers of pesky denim in his way.

Pulling his hands away from his body with great difficulty, Sebastian had to take in a couple of deep breaths to steady himself. Nine months without any form of sexual contact, even though he had been unconscious for all of it, had left Sebastian feeling very highly strung.

With slightly shaking hands, Sebastian pulled his t-shirt off and dropped it to the floor, before getting to his feet. It was a testament to how desperate he was feeling that it took two attempts before he could get his fingers to co-operate enough to undo the buttons on his jeans; buttoned flies may look cool, but they were in no way practical.

Dropping back down on the bed, Sebastian shifted against the mattress and ran a hand down his side, feeling his muscles twitch under his touch. In his mind, the hands weren’t his; they were Oliver’s - soft yet calloused from his time fending for himself on the Island.

His legs fell open slightly as his fingers curled around his cock, and he sighed happily. “I should have done this as soon as we woke up,” he breathed, talking more to himself than Barry; the primary usually let him take control when it came to all things sexual. Doing otherwise would mean he would have to admit that he preferred cock.

Sebastian tried to do what Barry had suggested and vibrate his hand, but nothing happened. Growling low in his throat, he took a deep breath and released it slowly, still stroking his cock. He needed to relax, and…

Vibrations rocked through him so suddenly it made him arch his back and exclaim, “Holy fucking shit!”

This was better than any vibrator Sebastian had ever bought, and even if he could find one that compared, there was no way he was going to waste the money now. He was, quite literally a human vibrator.

***

The next day, Barry and Iris were walking through downtown Central City, coffees in hand as they walked and talked.

“It is so nice to have you back,” Iris gushed for what was possibly the third time in the last half hour. “I finally have someone to talk to about boys again. It was so boring while you were asleep.”

Sebastian chuckled and took a sip of coffee. “I don’t know, you could always talk to your dad.” Iris glared at him. “Yeah, okay, good point.”

Police sirens filled the air and they looked up in time to see a car speeding toward them, with a police cruiser hot on its tail.

“Somethings, not right,” Sebastian stated inside Barry’s head. “They’re not moving.”

Using his super speed, Barry pushed Iris to the ground, moving them both out of the way of the oncoming car. If they hadn’t moved, they would most definitely have been crushed.

Time seemed to slow down again and as the car went past, Barry could clearly see the driver’s face.

 _“Why does he look familiar_?” Sebastian asked as Barry stumbled to his feet.

“Clyde Mardon,” Barry answered out-loud, helping Iris to her feet. He considered using his speed to help the police, but with Iris standing next to him, there wasn’t really much he could get away with. Besides, the police were gaining, surely it wouldn’t be long before Mardon was caught…

Almost as soon as the thought formed in his mind, a thick fog started appearing from nowhere. In less than a minute, it had completely shrouded the area where Mardon’s car had been; they couldn’t see through it all. As quickly as it had arrived, the fog vanished.

Revealing a very empty car in the middle of the road.

“How is that even possible?” Iris asked.

 _“I think I know_.” Even in his head, Sebastian sounded smug.

“Barry? Iris?” Joe’s voice asked from behind them and they turned to see the police detective heading in their direction. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We’re all right, Dad,” Iris tried to assure their father, but Joe wasn’t paying her much attention.

Instead, he rounded on Barry. “What do you think you’re doing having her out here?” Barry scowled and opened his mouth to argue, but Joe cut him off. “I told you - both of you - when you see danger, you run the other way. Neither of you are cops.”

“Because you wouldn’t let me!” Iris practically screeched indignantly.

Joe actually looked proud as he nodded his head. “Damn straight. And if I’d had my way, you wouldn’t have become a CSI, either,” he added, jabbing his index finger against Barry’s chest.

Unlike Iris, Barry didn’t respond to Joe’s anger. He was used to his adoptive father’s protective streak, and it had become something he’d just learnt to accept over the years. “Joe, I need to talk to you,” he stated. He needed to make sure Joe knew what they were facing; he needed to know it was Clyde Mardon.

“It can wait,” Joe said tensely, flickering his eyes between his children.

“No, it can’t,” Barry argued. “I know who did this. It was Clyde Mardon.” Joe huffed and rolled his eyes, but before he could argue, Barry continued, “I know, everybody thinks he died in a plane crash the night the particle accelerator exploded, but he _is_ alive. Something happened to him that night.”

He paused for a second, catching his breath, before ploughing on, “I think he can control the weather. I was catching up on the news last night-,”

_“Well, not all night,”_

Barry ignored Sebastian. “And all the recent robberies happened during freak meteorological events. And just before Mardon disappeared, the street was instantly enveloped in fog. Ask your officers; they’ll have to have seen it.”

Joe’s facial expression never changed. It was the expression Barry had come to recognise as his ‘humouring him’ face.

“Of course, you don’t believe me,” Barry muttered, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “You never believe me.”

Those words got a reaction from Joe. “Do you really want to do this now? Here, in front of everyone?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fine. Mardon is _dead_. People cannot control the weather, Barry. Just like there was no lightning storm in your house that night. You were scared and your brain couldn’t cope with what you saw.”

 _“_ My dad did _not_ murder my mom,” Sebastian snarled, taking a step closer to Joe. Luckily for one of them - Sebastian wasn’t sure which - Iris stepped between them.

“Yes, he did.” Joe insisted. “Your dad killed your mom, Sebastian. I am sorry, son, but I knew it, the jury knew it and now he’s paying for what he did.”

Iris’s eyes widened as she regarded her father. “Dad, enough!”

“No, Iris.” He looked back at Sebastian. “I have done my best to take care of you since that night, and I have never asked for anything in return. I didn’t even judge you when we found about Sebastian. But what I do ask now is that, for once in your life, you see things as they actually are!”

Sebastian took a step back. He didn’t want to leave; it wasn’t in his nature to turn on his heel and run from a fight or argument. But he also knew that nothing good would come from arguing with Joe. He loved the man more than he could say, especially for considering everything he had done, but sometimes he could just as easily strangle him as he could hug him.

“I’m sorry our date was ruined,” Sebastian said softly, addressing Iris instead. “I’ll call you later,” he added, pressing a kiss against her temple before walking away from them.

He waited until he was almost a block away, before he started to run. Heading in the direction of STAR labs.

***

By the time they got to STAR labs - even though it took about four minutes, if not less - Barry was just as angry as Sebastian was, but he still hadn’t taken control back from the alter ego.

“I wasn’t the only one affected by the explosion, was I?” Sebastian demanded, stalking over the computers were Cisco and Wells were.

Wells paused for a moment, processing the question before diplomatically answering, “We don’t know for sure.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “You said the city was safe now. That there was no residual danger. That’s obviously not true, so what really happened that night?”

For a while Wells looked like he was going to find a way around answering Sebastian’s question, but then he spoke, “When the particle accelerator went active, we all felt like heroes. Then it all went wrong. A dimensional barrier ruptured, unleashing unknown energies into our world, anti-matter, dark energy, x-elements…”

“Those are all theoretical,” Barry argued.

_“You understood that crap?”_

Wells smirked. “And how theoretical are you, Mr Allen?” He tapped away at the keyboard, and the screens around them lit up, showing what he was looking at. “We’ve mapped dispersion throughout and around Central City, but we have no way of knowing exactly what - or who - was exposed. We’ve been searching for other meta-humans. Like yourself.”

“Metahumans?” Sebastian asked, unable to keep the incredulity from his voice. That was surely one of the stupidest names for humans with superpowers.

“That’s what we’re calling them,” Caitlin informed him from her station across the room.

“I saw one today,” Barry told them before Sebastian could say what he was truly thinking. “He’s a bank robber, and he can control the weather.”

Cisco let out a whoop of excitement and leant back in his chair, looking at them with a brilliant grin. “This just keeps getting cooler,” he cooed.

Sebastian rushed to the front once more. “This is not cool, all right? A man died. Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did. From the storm cloud. He’s still out there. We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else,” Barry finished for him.

“That’s a job for the police.”

Barry groaned and threw his arms up in the air. “I am the police!”

“You’re a CSI,” Wells corrected, earning Sebastian’s glare. “You’re not a detective.”

“So _you_ fix it,” Sebastian ordered. “You’re responsible for this. You find him.”

Rage crossed Wells facial features, before he managed to school them to something resembling eerie calm. “They’re not important; I’m not important. What’s important is you, Barry. I lost everything. I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. And then you broke your arm, and it healed in three hours.”

Barry shifted uncomfortably at that. He had never thought how Wells would feel knowing that Barry could heal at an amazing rate, while he was confined to the wheelchair.

“Inside your body could be a map to a whole new world of genetic therapy, vaccines, medicines, treasures. We cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero. You’re not a hero, Barry. You’re just a young man who was struck by lightning.”

 _“I’ve got to get out of here,”_ Sebastian’s voice echoed through his mind, and Barry couldn’t agree more.

***

Sebastian ran. Ran further than he ever had before. He didn’t even know where he was going, not really. All he knew was that he needed to get as far away from Central City as he could.

When he finally did stop and saw that he was on the outer limits of Starling City, he considered his options. Taking a few deep breaths, he reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. A quick phone call later, and he had set up a meeting with the vigilante known as the Hood. Or, as Sebastian liked to think of him, the delicious specimen of man that was Oliver Queen.

 _“Let me do the talking,”_ Barry requested as they headed to the rooftop Oliver had stipulated.

 _“Fine,_ ” Sebastian huffed. _“But don’t you dare suppress me. I want to enjoy every minute of this._ ”

It didn’t take Oliver long to arrive on the rooftop and, while Barry focused on telling him what had happened - in great detail - since they had left Starling City nine months ago, Sebastian could focus on everything he hadn’t been able to enjoy on their first meeting with the billionaire.

The first thing he noticed was that Oliver had actually started to wear the mask Barry had created for him, and it fit him perfectly. It fit exactly across his cheekbones, framing those beautiful eyes fantastically.

Not that it was his eyes Sebastian had fantasised over. The scarred muscles were covered up by the Hood’s usual green ensemble, but the leather get-up didn’t really leave much to the imagination.

Sebastian was pretty sure if Oliver turned at the right angle, the bulge in his pants would be…

 _“Will you shut up, I’m trying to concentrate,”_ Barry’s thoughts interrupted his musings and he was snapped back to reality with a pretty large bounce.

“So,” Barry said, finishing off what Sebastian had drowned out, “that’s my story. I’ve spent my whole life searching for the impossible. Never imagining that I would become the impossible.”

Across the way, Oliver’s facial expressions didn’t change, and it was too dark to read any kind of emotion in his eyes. “So why come to me? Something tells me you didn’t just run six-hundred miles to say hi to a friend…”

_“He thinks we’re friends. That’s a step in the right direction at least.”_

“All my life I’ve wanted to do more,” Barry answered, running a hand through his already wind-swept hair. “Be more. And now I am. The first chance I get to help someone, I screw up. I was right there, looking at the bad guy and I just let him get away. Someone died because of me.”

Oliver sighed softly, but there was no frustration in his voice when he spoke. “If you really do this, you’re gonna make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes.” Barry seriously doubted that. “But the good you do will far outweigh the bad.”

“What if Wells is right? What if I’m not a hero? What if I really am just some guy who got struck by lightning?”

A small smile twitched at the corner of Oliver’s mouth, and Sebastian bit back a groan. God that looked sexy. “I don’t think that bolt of lightning struck you, Barry. I think it chose you.”

_“I think he’s been smoking something.”_

“I’m not sure I’m like you, Oliver. I don’t know if I can be a vigilante.”

Were he in control of their body, Sebastian would have scowled and possibly tried to knock some sense into the primary. “ _Are you seriously whining in front of Oliver Queen?”_

Of course, he was ignored.

“You can be better. You can inspire people in a way that I never could. Watching over your city like a guardian angel, making a difference saving people. In a flash.”

_“I like that!”_

Oliver turned on his heel and pulling an arrow from his quiver, fired one to the high buildings around them. Before he disappeared into the night, he turned back to Barry. “Take your own advice, kid. Wear a mask.”

Barry felt his jaw drop open in awe when Oliver triggered something on the arrow he’d just fired, and he was able to essentially fly through the air in the direction of the building, coming to a stop on the side.

 _“Why can’t we do that?”_ Sebastian exclaimed, making Barry laugh, before they too were on their way back to Central City with a new purpose.

They were going to make Oliver Queen proud of them.

***

Back at STAR labs the following day, Barry was feeling much better than he had the previous day. Talking with Oliver had helped him more than he ever thought possible, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought to do what the other man had suggested before.

There had to be a reason why he had been given super-speed and everything that came with it. Until they figured out that reason, he was going to help anyone he could.

And he needed Caitlin, Cisco and Wells’s help to do that.

“I’ve been going through over unsolved cases from the past nine months,” he began, referring to the police files he had ‘borrowed’ from work. “There’s been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your metahumans have been busy. I’m not blaming you,” he was quick to add when all three of them started to look offended. “I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something, but I need your help to catch Mardon, and anyone else out there like him.”

He looked around the room, making sure to make eye contact with everyone. “But I can’t do it without you.”

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged looks, but Barry couldn’t read what their expression meant. They looked over at Wells, who rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face, and waved his hand in Cisco’s direction.

Cisco whooped in excitement. “If we’re gonna do this, I have something that might help. Something I’ve been playing with. Follow me,” he requested, leaving the room before either of them could question him and without checking to see if they were on his heels. Which they were.

Together they headed down two floors, before Cisco ducked into a room. Following him, Barry realised it was part store-room, part-workshop; it didn’t look much different from his lab at the police station. Cisco led them over to the far right corner, before turning to them with a grin on his face.

“It’s designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear. I thought if STAR labs could do something nice for the community, maybe people wouldn’t be so angry with Doctor Wells anymore,” he explained, putting his hand on the object he was stood beside and turning it around to face them. It was a suit, red in colour and it appeared to made of leather.

 _“I love the colour,”_ Sebastian stated in his head, which surprised Barry a little. The alter ego was usually a favourite of blue, and any red they had on was usually Barry’s doing. “ _I’m allowed to change my mind, you know?”_

The other’s were looking at Barry expectantly and he realised he had probably been silent for a little longer than normal. “How is it going to help me?”

Cisco looked pleased Barry asked; like he had been waiting for months to explain the science behind the suit. “It’s made of a reinforced tri-polymer. It’s heat and abrasive resistant, so it should withstand you moving at high speed. The aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus,” he paused for oxygen, “it has built in sensors, so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here.”

Barry had to hand it to his new friend; he really had thought of everything and the suit was perfect. There was just one problem. “Thanks. Now, how do we find Mardon?”

***

Over the years Barry liked to think he had become used to expecting the unexpected. For as long as he could remember, he had always believed there was something more to the world than there seemed. When his mom had been killed, what he had seen only served to cement that belief. And then there was the fact that he had woken up from a coma with abs and superpowers. It was hard not to be a firm believer after that.

That being said, he didn’t think he had prepared himself for seeing a tornado in Central City, heading directly for his adoptive father. Joe fired a shot at Mardon, but it didn’t make a difference, other than serving to piss Mardon off more than he already had been.

Using his powers, Mardon picked a piece of fallen debris up and threw it in the direction of Joe. Acting on impulse more than a conscious thought, Barry snatched the debris from thin air, throwing it on the ground safely out of Joe’s way.

In his ear, he could hear Cisco talking wildly to him. “Barry, if Mardon keeps this up, the winds are going to become an F5 tornado.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “And it’s headed towards the city,” he breathed. “How do I stop it?” There was silence in response as they each tried to think of something that would work. In the end it wasn’t any of them who thought of a solution, it was Sebastian.

“What if I unravel it?” the alter ego asked, taking control for a moment before letting Barry back to the front. He had no desire to play hero. Even if he did look good in the suit.

“How the hell are you going to do that?” Caitlin asked shrilly in his ear.

“ _Don’t look at me,”_ Sebastian retorted. _“I just come up with the genius plans. How they work is all you.”_

Barry huffed in irritation and rolled his eyes. They didn’t have time for Sebastian’s half-baked ideas. “I could run around it in the opposite direction,” he theorised. “Cut off its legs.”

He could hear Cisco and Caitlin discussing how unlikely he was to be able to accomplish the task, and how stupid he was for even considering it, but he tuned them out. There was no way he could let Mardon get away; he had to at least try to save Joe, Eddie and the rest of Central City.

The faster he got, the harder it became to breathe, but Barry carried on. Less oxygen had to mean he was doing the right thing; the tornado would stop soon, surely.

Suddenly there was an explosion of air, and Barry was thrown from the tornado with so much force his hood and mask actually slipped away from his face. He landed on the ground with a painful thud, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the aches and pains of his body; he knew any injuries he had would likely heal soon, anyway.

Mardon was standing a few feet away, where the tornado had been, only this time he had resulted in more traditional weapons as he pointed a gun at Barry’s head. “I didn’t know there was anyone else like me.”

Sebastian scowled. “I’m nothing like you,” he spat. “You’re a murderer.”

A smirk crossed Mardon’s face and he cocked the hammer back on the gun, more than ready to pull the trigger. A shot rang out through the air, but thankfully it wasn’t Barry who dropped down dead to the gravelled driveway. It was Mardon.

Spinning on his heel, Barry inhaled sharply when he saw Joe running toward him, gun in hand and looking more concerned than Barry could remember seeing him for a long time. That was when he realised he wasn’t wearing his mask anymore; Joe could see who he was.

In his ear, he could hear Caitlin demanding to know what happened, but all he could manage was, “It’s over. I’m okay.”  
  
***

Iron Heights Prison hadn’t changed much in the fifteen years since his dad had been arrested and thrown in there. There had been an influx of prisoners transferred from Starling City, curtesy of the Arrow when he didn’t feel like killing them - even Moira Queen had been a resident at one point - but apart from that, everything was exactly the same as Barry remembered.

Even the chair he always sat in was the same. He could tell because Sebastian had drawn on the hard plastic with a marker during a visit after a bad day back in High School.

The door on the other side of the glass opened and Barry looked up in time to see his father enter the room. Unlike the prison, he _did_ look different from the last time Barry had seen him. It wasn’t the stubble or outfit that was new; they had been constants for so long that he could barely remember what Henry Allen looked like clean shaven and not dressed like a criminal.

It was the haunted look that was different. Every time Barry visited, he hated how resigned to his fate his father looked. As though he had given up believing he would ever get out of there.

Well, Barry was going to prove to him that he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life in jail.

“Hey slugger,” Henry greeted, picking up the phone and grinning at his son.

Just the sound of his dad’s voice was enough to make Barry grin. “You’ve been calling me that since I was eleven,” he pointed out, before chuckling. “I actually got into a fight today,” he added.

Henry’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately gave Barry the once over, making sure he was in one piece. “You just got out of a coma. I’m not sure you should be picking fights.” There wasn’t anything in his tone to indicate that he was mad at Barry, but that made him feel even worse; Henry never really got the chance to be a proper father to him. It had been Joe who had needed to discipline Barry and Sebastian, and be the one to keep the pair of them in line when Sebastian got out of hand, and Barry got dragged along for the ride.

“Hey,” Henry said softly, getting Barry’s attention, “did you win?”

Sebastian chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I did,” he answered for Barry, keeping his voice soft. Henry was the only one who could bring the softer side of Sebastian out, and their father didn’t even know about his existence. Joe had decided to keep Sebastian a secret from Henry; he hadn’t wanted the other man to judge his son without knowing exactly what was going on. Neither Barry nor Sebastian had agreed at the time, but as adults they finally understood why Joe wanted to protect him.

“You didn’t kill mom,” Barry stated. It was such a common topic of conversation between the two of them that Henry didn’t even seem surprised by Barry’s sudden change of subject. “You know I know that, right?”

Henry smiled softly. “You believing me is all I need.” It was his usual answer whenever Barry brought up his father’s innocence; it was his way of humouring his son.

Barry was undeterred by Henry’s lack of enthusiasm for his freedom. “You won’t be in here for much longer,” he swore. “Whoever killed mom, _whatever_ killed her, I think I’ve finally found a way to find them. To stop them.”

This time, his words got more of a reaction from Henry. The older man sighed, the exhale of breath audible through the phone. “Barry, we’re talked about this. It’s time to let it go. You’ve got to stop worrying about me. You need to live your life.”

Unlike every other time they had the same conversation, Barry didn’t feel hurt at the implication that his dad didn’t think he could get him out. He knew he had a way now; Henry just didn’t realise it.

Barry would show him. He would work with Doctor Wells, Cisco and Caitlin, becoming faster and helping other people. And then, when the time was right, he would find whoever the man in yellow was and he would free his dad.

 ***


	2. Fastest Man Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took Barry a week to get used to having superpowers. He loved that he finally had the opportunity to help people who needed him.
> 
> Mostly Sebastian was just happy he didn't have to get up so early in the morning. He had no desire to be a superhero.

***

It took a week for Barry to fully get used to having superpowers. For the first time in his life everything seemed to come easy for him, mostly because when he used his super-speed, the rest of the world slowed down so he could do whatever new thing he was attempting as many times as he needed to get it right ‘first time’.

Sebastian was mostly happy that they didn’t have to get up so early any more for work, and that it made jerking off much more pleasurable.

But the best thing for Barry was that he could finally use his superpowers to help people who really needed him. Just like he and Cisco had with the burning building. If he hadn’t gotten there when he did, the people in that building would have died for sure.

“What else have you got for me, Cisco?” Barry asked through his headset, unable to keep the grin from his face.

A grin that was immediately wiped away when Caitlin’s voice came through instead of Cisco’s. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Barry winced at the tone the doctor was using. Caitlin’s reaction had been the exact reason why they hadn’t told her about their rescue mission; there was no way she would have gone for it.

“Hey, Caitlin,” he greeted, trying to be as casual as he could even as Sebastian rolled his eyes. “How are you?”

 _“This is why I should be the primary,”_ Sebastian grumbled petulantly.

“Get back to STAR labs, now,” she ordered.

Barry swallowed nervously. “On my way,” he replied, before the communication link was shut off. “ _Great_ ,” he grumbled. “ _She’s going to kill us._ ”

“ _Kill_ you _,”_ Sebastian corrected him. _“I didn’t do anything.”_

The primary snorted with laughter. “ _You’re aware that if she kills me, she’ll kill you too, right?”_ He didn’t wait for a response as he set off back to STAR labs.

Or at least he tried to set off. Before he’d even taken a step, a sharp pain shot through his head. The pain was so intense it made him crash into the dumpster.

“Ow,” Sebastian grumbled, shaking his head.

This time when Barry tried to run, he was off the mark as fast as usual and he didn’t think anything of it further.

***

Caitlin was livid by the time Barry arrived back at STAR labs. Cisco actually looked relieved to see him when he arrived, and Barry couldn’t help wonder how much of the doctor’s wrath he had already been on the receiving end of.

Spotting Barry, Caitlin immediately dove into another furious tirade. “Have you both lost your minds?” She levelled her glare on Barry. “Who do you think you are?”

“Well, I’m the eyes and ears, he’s the feet,” Cisco answered, pointing to himself and Barry with a grin, which was easily returned.

“This isn’t funny,” Caitlin snapped. “You could have gotten yourself killed.” Cisco and Barry exchanged exasperated looks, but neither of them were brave enough to interrupt Caitlin. Even Sebastian was keeping quiet. “You can’t be running around the city like some supersonic fireman.”

Cisco snorted and rolled his eyes. “Why not?”

Barry nodded. “This is what we talked about,” he reminded Caitlin. “Me using my speed for good.”

“Actually,” Caitlin corrected him, “we talked about you helping us contain other people who might have been affected by the particle accelerator explosion.”

In his head, Sebastian sighed and grumbled, _“If she’s always going to be like this, can we just cut and run now. I thought having superpowers was supposed to be fun?”_

“People in this city still need help,” Barry stated. Caitlin sighed heavy and Sebastian smirked, they was obviously getting through to the usually stoic doctor. “I can help them.” Barry looked over at Cisco. “ _We_ can help them.”

Caitlin sighed heavily. “Do what you want, Barry,” she eventually muttered through clenched teeth. “But don’t expect me to patch you up every time you crash into something.”

With another glare at both Barry and Cisco, she turned on her heel and stalked away from them. “That went well,” Sebastian chuckled, cracking a grin at Cisco, who returned it with one of his own.

“Listen man, what happened out there?” Cisco asked. “The sensors in the suit were sending back strange signals. Your vital signs went weird for a few seconds.”

Barry shrugged his shoulders. “I never felt better,” he lied. He didn’t need Sebastian’s voice echoing in his head, reminding him of how much BS he was spreading. He snatched his phone up from the desk when it started ringing, and winced when he saw it was Joe. That was never a good sign. “Joe, hi. Is… Is everything okay?”

“There’s this weird thing,” Joe’s voice came through the line. “I’m at a crime scene. There’s a dead body, cops are interviewing witnesses, the whole thing has been cordoned off. Guess what’s missing?”

Barry screwed his eyes closed. “I’ll be right there,” he assured the police officer, before cancelling the call. “I have to go,” he said, throwing a look at the rest of the STAR labs team, before darting away at top speed.

***

It was only when they got to the crime scene, stopping just out of sight of the police officer’s that Sebastian saw fit to point out that they were still wearing the superhero outfit.

Barry was halfway through analysing the evidence he’d found at the gun store shooting, when suddenly the world tilted and he was pretty sure he was going to throw up. It was the same thing he’d experienced earlier that morning, just after the building fire; his chest tightened to the point it became hard to breathe, and he had no way which was up.

 _“Great,”_ Sebastian drawled in his head. _“After all those stupid heroics, I’m going to die from smoke inhalation._ ”

“How do you even know what smoke inhalation is?” Barry muttered, trying to focus on actually remaining standing, rather than his alter ego.

Sebastian sounded offended. “Hey, I read too, you know.” He paused for a beat, before chuckling, “Well, you read, I just watch. Some of it was bound to sink in eventually,” he admitted.

Behind them, they heard footsteps entering the room. Barry swallowed thickly, pushing down the feeling of nausea, before turning to see Iris, looking as beautiful as ever.

“This is all your fault!” she stated, ploughing on before either of them could argue otherwise. “I was going to take European Folklore to cover my sociology requirement, but noooo,” she rolled her eyes, “you said, ‘Take journalism, Iris. Reporters have all the fun, Iris’.”

Sebastian smirked. “They _do_ have all the fun. Back in college, I knew this one reporter who…”

“I’m not having fun, Sebastian,” Iris cut him off. “I’m bored. I blame you.” She sighed dramatically, and were she not wearing such a fancy looking dress, Sebastian was sure she would have thrown herself into a very unladylike pile in his chair.

“You look really nice,” Barry complimented.

A light blush coloured Iris’s cheeks, and she smoothed her dress down. “Thanks. Why don’t you?” Barry looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “This afternoon? Shirt and tie?” Neither Barry nor Sebastian had any idea what she was talking about. “The University is giving..”

“Simon Stagg some big award,” Barry finished for her, groaning as he leant forward and pressed his head against the desk.

Iris nodded, pursing her lips together in that way she did when Barry did something she didn’t approve of. “You agreed-,”

“To explain the science stuff for your article,” Barry finished again. “It’s coming back to me now.”

“How fast can you get home and change?”

Sebastian smirked and answered before Barry could stop him, “Faster than you could possibly know.”

There was a knock on the door and, before Sebastian could say anything else that would likely result in Iris finding out their secret, Detective Eddie Thawne walked into the room. “Hey, Allen,” he greeted. “Joe asked me to see where you are on the evidence from the gun store shooting.”

Barry watched from the side as Eddie’s eyes landed on Iris, and the detective nodded his head. “Hey, Iris.”

Sebastian laughed and rolled his eyes. Iris had told him about her relationship with Eddie the night they had woken from the coma. “Guys, you don’t have to pretend, remember? I already know; just get it over with already.”

The change in Eddie’s demeanour was immediate; his shoulders relaxed and the quite stern facial expression he had been wearing changed. Sebastian was more than willing to stand there, watching them kiss, but Barry wasn’t having any of it; he made the alter ego give their best friend a little bit of privacy by turning his back on them.

After a few minutes, Barry decided it was safe enough to turn back. “Thanks for being so cool about this, Barry,” Eddie said, pulling away from Iris and throwing a grin in Barry’s direction. “I know it’s not easy keeping a big secret.”

A sigh escaped Barry’s throat. “It’s easier than you think,” he muttered, turning back to his desk and grabbing his jacket. He had an award ceremony he needed to get ready for.

***

The crowd gathered at Stagg Industries was actually bigger than Barry had been expecting. He didn’t work well in big crowds; he was much more comfortable dealing with people one on one, and even then he tried to avoid that if he didn’t know the people.

Sebastian had taken the lead, getting Barry changed into a grey suit and red tie, before zooming them back to the police station where Iris had been waiting. He’d used the excuse that he kept a suit in his lab, just in case, and they had been on their way.

It had been only when they’d gotten to the presentation and Simon Stagg had started talking, that Barry had felt comfortable enough to change places with Sebastian. Iris needed to know what the science meant, and there was no way Sebastian would have been able to translate.

“All right, first things first,” Barry began when the presentation was over, grabbing two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and handing one to Iris. “Simon Stagg’s work in cellular cloning has led to huge advancements in the future of organ replacement…”

Iris looked down at the champagne with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Are journalists allowed to drink on the job?” she mused aloud.

Barry snickered and took a sip of his own drink. “If you’re bored now, wait until we get to the science behind cellular regeneration.” Sebastian pulled a face, before taking a bigger drink. It must be cheap champagne, because it tasted like nothing more than soda to him.

“I’ve missed this,” Iris murmured, looking her arm through Barry’s as they walked around the room. Barry frowned and she explained, “I feel like we haven’t spent any quality time together since you woke up from the coma.”

“ _If you’re not gonna let me speak, at least make up a convincing lie,_ ” Sebastian pleaded with the primary.

Barry had to fight to not run his hand over the back of his neck. It was one of the things he knew he always did when he lied, and knowing about it actually made it harder to not do. “I’ve had a crazy few weeks,” he stated vaguely. It was as close to the truth as he could get.

He had promised Joe that Iris would never find out what had really happened to him.

Iris looked a little embarrassed. “I thought you were avoiding me because of the whole thing with Eddie. I know dating my dad’s partner isn’t exactly right, but…”

“Are you kidding me?” Sebastian retorted. “I’m mostly just pissed that you got to Detective Pretty Boy before I did.” A grin broke through his pout when Iris visibly relaxed, and a relieved look washed over her face.

Before either of them could speak, the sound of gunshots filled the air and Sebastian spun around, placing himself between the shooter and Iris without a conscious thought.

It was the same crew that had taken out the gun store, Sebastian didn’t have to be a scientist to know that. Barry had seen the video Eddie had gotten from the camera, and these were definitely the same people.

“How considerate of you.” The attacker’s voice was muffled enough to not be able to tell who was speaking, but clear enough to be able to hear every word. “You’re all wearing your finest jewellery. Almost like you knew were going to rob you.”

“Now, everybody line up.”

Never letting go of Iris’s hand, Sebastian pulled his friend over to the wall with all the rest of the attendees. “We need to do something,” Barry’s voice echoed in his mind and it took every ounce of willpower he had to not physically roll his eyes.

“ _If you can figure out how to do that without them finding out it’s us, then I’m all ears,_ ” Sebastian retorted, to which he knew Barry wouldn’t be able to respond.

Just as the people in front of Iris were dropping their watches and bracelets into a bag, a security guard decided it would be a good time for _him_ to play hero. “Freeze!” he shouted, withdrawing his gun from the holster and aiming it at the attackers.

The sound of three gunshots sounded in the area, none of which had come from the attacker’s gun. Sebastian didn’t even have time to process what he was doing, before he ran forward, using his super-speed to propel him from Iris’s side. He grabbed the guard from where he was still standing in the bullet’s path, and ran him out of the nearest available exit.

“We can’t let them escape,” Barry told Sebastian, who was already on his way back to the attackers.

For the first time since he’d woken up with super-speed, Sebastian was late and arrived just in time to see them piling into a black van. Before he could argue with Barry that he was done playing superhero and wouldn’t be chasing after them, the world violently tilted and he staggered into a dumpster, before passing out.

***

The first thing he saw when he came to was Iris’s disembodied face floating above his own, calling his name. He groaned and ran a hand over his face, trying to clear his slightly blurry vision.

When she saw he was moving, Iris sighed with relief. “Are you okay?” she asked, putting her hands on his shoulders to steady him when Barry tried to move. “I turned around and you were gone. What happened? Are you okay?” The last time Barry had heard his best friend sound so panicked was the day he had woken from the coma and she had been worried that his being on his feet would exhaust him too much.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Barry croaked, allowing her to pull him to his feet. “I…”

“ _Convincing lie.”_

“I went after them to try and get the plates. I must have fainted,” he added, rubbing what was sure to be a lump on the side of his head from where he’d hit the asphalt.

The worried look on Iris’s face didn’t give away whether she actually believed what he was saying or not, but she didn’t question him further. Instead, she took his hand in hers and led him back inside to where Joe and Eddie were comparing notes.

“Hi,” she greeted, trying to be cheery and failing miserably as they stepped up to them.

Barry couldn’t help notice Eddie’s narrowed eyes when he took in the sight of them holding hands, and he tried to pull his from her grip, but neither Iris nor Sebastian would let him. _“You’re gay, remember?”_ Sebastian’s voice taunted. _“If anyone has to worry about competition from me, it’s Iris.”_

Joe looked at them in surprise when he saw Barry standing with his daughter. “Where were you?” he asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Iris sighed and ran a hand over Barry’s forearm. “Dad, go easy on him. I found him outside; he fainted.”

“Do you want me to get you a paramedic, Allen?” Eddie asked, still not looking particularly comfortable with how close the two of them were and the fact that Sebastian still hadn’t let go off Iris’s hand.

Barry shook his head, an action he immediately regretted and declined the offer.

“Lemme talk to you for a second,” Joe murmured, indicating to Barry that they should move away from the other two. “You went after those gunmen, didn’t you?” he asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Yeah,” Barry agreed, falling into step alongside his adoptive father. “I’m pretty sure they were the same guys that knocked over the gun shop this morning.”

Joe hummed and drummed his pen against his pad. “And what were you planning on doing when you caught them?” Barry shifted uncomfortably where he was standing. “Ask them nicely to pull over? You’re not bulletproof, Sebastian.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you so sure I was the one in charge?” he demanded. When Joe raised an eyebrow, he smirked, “Okay, fine, I was, but-,”

“No. No more heroics; from either of you. You’re not a cop; chasing bad guys is not your job, it’s mine.” Joe looked into Barry’s eyes. “Promise me.”

“I promise,” Barry swore. Sebastian, however, couldn’t help adding, “Scouts honour.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “You were never a scout,” he muttered, taking a step back toward Eddie and Iris, before pausing. “You know, Iris isn’t stupid. Start making better excuses than ‘I fainted’.”

Sebastian huffed as Joe walked away from them. “ _The one time I’m actually telling the truth, no one believes me.”_

***

Barry was starting to think that being mad at him was Caitlin’s MO. He honestly couldn’t remember anyone yelling at him as much as she had since he had woken up from the coma; well, except maybe his high school math teacher when she had caught Sebastian making out with a random guy whose name he couldn’t even remember in her office.

“You of all people should know that in science, we share!” Caitlin finished off her tirade, stalking away from them probably before she could strangle Barry.

“Wow,” Cisco whistled. “I haven’t seen anyone make her that angry since Ronnie.” He patted Barry on the back. “Come on, man. Let’s figure out what’s wrong with you.”

Thankfully for Barry figuring out what was wrong with him didn’t mean more needles; he was starting to think that if it wasn’t for his enhanced healing, he would start to look like the drug addicts people ignored in downtown central city.

It did, however, involve running really fast. And crashing into a makeshift wall of boxes, when he passed out again.

“ _I’m over this whole crashing into stuff now,”_ Sebastian complained as soon as Barry regained consciousness.

“I passed out again?” Barry asked aloud, aiming the question at Caitlin who was already helping him to sit up.

“Total metabolic failure brought on by acute hypoglycaemia,” she agreed.

 _“And in English for those of us too distracted by the hot science teacher to pay attention_ ,” Sebastian requested.

“I’m not eating enough,” Barry summarised out loud, making it sound more like he was confirming what Caitlin said than answering Sebastian’s question. “So you gave me an IV bag, and I’m good to go, right?”

Cisco chuckled and put a hand on Barry’s shoulder, turning him around so he could how many IV bags he had gone through while he’d been unconscious.

“Try forty,” Wells commented. “Guess you were thirsty.”

“We’re going to need to fashion you a new diet based on your metabolic changes,” Caitlin informed him.

From beside him, Cisco pulled out his tablet and began tapping away on its screen. “I’ve done a few calculations. You need to consume an amount equal to roughly 850 tacos.”

“For Mexican I’d recommend Tito's on Bruckner Avenue,” Joe’s voice interjected from the doorway and Barry couldn’t help jumping like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

“Detective West,” Wells greeted. “What brings you to STAR labs?” he added as Joe stepped further into the room.

It wasn’t the first time either Barry or Sebastian had seen Joe with the furious expression he was currently wearing, but that didn’t make being on the receiving end of it any easier. Barry still felt like a little kid whose dad had caught him trying to run away from home.

“When I couldn’t find you at your lab, I started doing a little research,” Joe explained. “Turns out, there’s been reports of a red streak around the city, stopping muggers, rescuing people from burning buildings. It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together when they reported the streak heading in this general direction.”

“You didn’t tell him we were working together,” Wells theorised, taking his glasses off and running a hand over his face.

“Joe, I can explain,” Sebastian began, but before he could say more, Joe continued.

“You already have a job in law enforcement…” Joe looked like he had been very close to saying Sebastian’s name; thankfully he’d stopped himself in time. Neither of them were ready to have that particular conversation with any of the others. “I suggest you get back to it.”

Barry could feel Sebastian itching to stay at the front of his mind. He didn’t like it when people told him what to do at the best of times. When Joe called him out in front of other people, it pissed him off almost more than anything else did.

“Detective West,” Wells was the one to respond first to Joe’s orders, cutting through the haze of anger which had been settling over Sebastian’s mind. “We all want what’s best for Barry.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “If you wanted what was best for him, you’d try to talk him out of this lunacy instead of encouraging him to go out there, risking his life.”

“You saw a man control the weather,” Sebastian drawled when Barry gave up and relinquished the little bit of control he’d had over the alter ego. “What are the police supposed to do against someone like that? Since the accelerator explosion, we think there are more like him out there.”

“And you’re going to do what?” Joe asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Catch them? Are you insane? You think because you run real fast, that you’re invincible? You’re not. You’re just a kid, Barry. My kid.”

Barry felt something in his mind snap and this time there was no stopping Sebastian from speaking what was really on their mind. He tried to plead with Sebastian to not say anything, but the alter ego was too angry to listen to reason.

“I’m not your kid, Joe,” Sebastian snarled. “And you’re not my father. My father’s sitting in Iron Heights for a crime he didn’t commit. You were wrong about him, and you’re wrong about this.” Sebastian got to his feet. “Now, I may not be able to help him, but if I can save someone from a burning building or stop some armed thieves, than I’m gonna do it, and you can’t stop me. So don’t even try.”

***

Barry was pissed at Sebastian. Even if they didn’t share the same body, he would have been able to sense it. The atmosphere in the lab back the precinct was so thick, Sebastian was sure you’d be able to cut it with a knife.

“I don’t get why you’re so mad,” Sebastian grumbled, stuffing the last donut into his mouth. “All I did was speak what _you_ were really thinking.”

“There’s this little thing called ‘tact’, Seb,” Barry snapped, scribbling the results of a test down with his free hand. “You told Joe he wasn’t our father.”

“Technically he’s not,” Sebastian argued petulantly.

“We would have been in an orphanage or worse if it hadn’t been for Joe,” Barry pointed out. “You shouldn’t have hurt his feelings like that.”

When Sebastian didn’t respond, Barry was pretty sure he’d actually managed to get through to the alter ego. That was until he heard footsteps and Joe entered the room. “Come to yell at me some more?” Sebastian asked sarcastically.

Joe didn’t rise to Sebastian’s comments. Instead, he held his hand out. “Simon Stagg’s head of security was murdered last night. The coroner took some skin samples. Hopefully they belong to the killer. See if you can find a match,” he added when Barry took the evidence from him.

“It can’t be a coincidence that Stagg’s benefit was attacked last night,” Barry theorised, trying to make conversation with Joe even though it was obvious the other man could barely look at him.

“I’m going to interview Stagg now,” Joe informed him, turning to head out of the lab.

“I’ll come with you,” Barry tried to volunteer, but Joe shook his head.

“Your job is in here.” Joe waved his arm to indicate to the room around them. “Stay in here and do it.”

Without saying another word, Joe turned on his heel and left the lab, passing Iris briefly on the way out.

“Okay, why is Dad mad at you?” Iris asked, crossing the room and dropping her empty coffee cup in the trash can.

“Sebastian pissed him off,” Barry answered with a shrug of his shoulders, as he studied his friend’s face. “Why are _you_ mad at me?” She was wearing the exact same expression she had been when she’d found out Sebastian had borrowed her favourite dress for a halloween party, and then proceeded to get laid whilst wearing it.

“You were supposed to meet me at Jitters to give me some scientific background for my article,” Iris reminded him.

Barry groaned and ran a hand over his face. “And I didn’t show. Iris, I’m…”

Iris shook her head. “Don’t say that you’re sorry, Barry.” She sighed at his crestfallen look. “Okay, I know you are, but there’s something more. Something is going on with you.”

Barry opened and closed his mouth a few times but nothing came out. Not even Sebastian had anything to offer. _“Sure, now you need me.”_

Iris didn’t seem undeterred by her friend’s silence as she ploughed on with a speech that felt only slightly rehearsed. “We grew up one bedroom down from each other. We discovered boys together. Do you honestly think I don’t know when you’re not happy? Or sad, or depressed, or lost?” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to ask you one last time, Barry and Sebastian Allen, and you both better be honest with me. What the hell is going on with you?”

The idea of telling her the truth about what happened the night of the particle accelerator explosion crossed his mind, and Barry couldn’t honestly say who the idea had come from. It would be so much easier for them all if she knew that he could move faster than the speed of sound.

But he had promised Joe, and regardless of what Sebastian had told him during his outburst, both of them really did class the other man as their father, and Barry knew he couldn’t disrespect him by not honouring his wishes and keeping the truth away from Iris.

Luckily for Barry, who didn’t have to come up with a convincing lie, the machine behind him beeped and an image flashed up on the screen.

Iris groaned, clearly knowing that her chance for straight answers had disappeared. “This is not over,” she promised, jabbing a finger against Barry’s chest, before he turned to the computer.

“That’s impossible,” Barry murmured, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked at the screen. He sensed Iris moving around so she could see as well and explained, “There was a murder last night, and these skin cells belong to the murderer. I… I have to go; I need to catch up with Joe.”

***

It had been a long couple of days, but Barry still didn’t want to go home. He couldn’t go home; at least not for a few hours. While he had been so pre-occupied with fighting Danton Black - newly dubbed multiplex - the case work had been building up on his desk.

Sometimes he wished the CCPD had a bigger CSI budget; he could really use an assistant. At least he could use his super-speed to get through the work in half the time it would usually take him.

Honestly, sitting at the workbench in his lab and pouring over evidence reports after an evening of being almost beaten to a pulp by a metahuman was oddly soothing.

His work and lab were the things that hadn’t changed since the particle accelerator explosion, and it was comforting to know that he could always rely on them to keep him grounded.

Barry was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t even hear or sense Joe entering the room until he asked, “Hungry?” He looked up to see Joe holding three pizza boxes and Barry inhaled, breathing in the delicious smell of his favourite pizzeria. “Pepperoni, olives and jalapenos. Just like you like it.”

He couldn’t help grinning like a little kid on Christmas morning when Joe put the pizzas down in front of him and he reached for the top one. This whole higher metabolism was the best excuse to eat more food that Barry had ever heard of.

“Thank you,” he breathed, opening the box and inhaling the delicious smell even more.

Barry hadn’t even managed to pick up one slice before Joe stated, “You were wrong.”

“I’ve been wrong a lot this week,” Barry confessed, picking up a piece and taking a bite. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“You said that one of the things driving you to run around out there was that you couldn’t help your dad,” Joe reminded him. He reached down and pulled the roller board up, revealing Barry’s string mind map of his father’s case. “You can help him,” he argued, before amending it to, “We can. We’re going to figure out who _or what_ killed your mother that night.”

Joe took a slice from the pizza box and, after picking the olives off, took a bite himself. “We’re going to get your father out of prison.” He put a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “Together.”

To Barry’s surprise, he could feel Sebastian creeping to the forefront of his mind. Barry didn’t fight it; he wanted to know what was going to happen, but it was still weird. There was nothing that Barry was afraid of, and there was no promise of a confrontation, but Sebastian was pretty insistent.

“Joe, what I said about you not-,” Sebastian began, but Joe shook his head.

“Seb, it’s okay. I know I’m not your father.”

He sounded so sad when he said the words that Sebastian felt even worse for making him feel like that. “You’re right. You’re just the man who kept me fed and in clothes. Who sat beside my bed at night until I fell asleep because Barry was afraid of the dark. You helped him with his homework.” Sebastian had never done a single piece of homework in his life; that was all Barry.

“You taught me how to drive and shave,” Sebastian continued, munching away on his second slice. “You paid for tuition to Dalton. Dropped me off at college, which you paid for as well. Sounds an awful lot like a dad to me.”

The blinding smile Joe offered him in response was worth letting his guard down and being sentimental for a few minutes, Sebastian decided as Joe wrapped his arms around his neck from behind.

“I love you, kid,” Joe murmured, burying his face in Sebastian’s hair as he hugged him tighter.

Sebastian smiled and placed his hand over Joe’s arm, squeezing gently. “Love you too, Dad.”

***


	3. Things You Can't Outrun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a reference to underage sex in this chapter, as well a relationship with a significant age difference (15 & 26). If either of these things squick you, it is only a passing comment that is mentioned maybe twice tops, and doesn't go into more detail.
> 
> Also, there is mention of the university Barry & Seb went to in this chapter. I couldn't find any canon details of this on the net, so I've chosen one for myself. I've kept it within the DC universe, though.
> 
> I am so overwhelmed by the positive response this fic is getting. I'm really glad everyone is liking this story, and that you're all on board with the whole Barry & Sebastian situation. I know I have a few comments I need to reply to (I will, honest), but if you have anything you think would be a cool Barry & Seb moment, then please let me know. I have some episodes that are already set in stone (namely The Flash vs Arrow & Blackout), but I am more than willing to listen to ideas.
> 
> ***

Zombie movies weren’t Barry’s favourite type of movie. He would never admit it to anyone other than Sebastian, but the idea of Zombie’s actually filled with nothing short of blind terror. Annoyingly enough, or maybe even because of that, they were also one of Sebastian’s favourite forms of entertainment that didn’t require getting naked for. 

That meant that whenever there was a new movie out, Barry had to suffer through Sebastian and Iris, who was just as bad, dragging him along to a movie he genuinely had no interest in.

Needless to say, he was more than a little relieved when it was over.

“Regular movie scale, that was a seven or an eight,” Sebastian stated, offering his arm to Iris as they left the theatre. “Zombie movie scale, it was, like, a four. Tops.”

Iris laughed. “There’s a zombie movie scale?”

Sebastian grinned widely. “Oh yeah, there’s a whole zombie subculture out there. You don’t know what you’re missing out on.” He paused for a moment. “Did you know that zombies exist in nature?”

His best friend raised an eyebrow as she turned to stare at him. “You don’t pay attention to  _ any _ form of learning, yet you know that?” she asked incredulously.

The alter ego stuck out his tongue. “Any time zombies are mentioned, Barry shoves me to the front, even if I don’t want to,” he explained. “There’s a species of fungi that infects ants, which causes the ants to attack plants that can release spores, which then infect new hosts,” Sebastian informed her, unable to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice.

Iris laughed at him and Sebastian screwed up his nose. “I sounded like Barry then, didn’t I?” He groaned when she nodded her head. “Damn, I thought I’d escaped the nerdiness.”

“It’s okay,” Iris murmured, pressing a kiss against his shoulder. “You’ll always be the second cutest nerd I know.” Sebastian pouted and she laughed. “Barry is cuter.” She started suddenly, which in turn made Sebastian jump in surprise. “Sorry,” she apologised, pulling her phone out. “It’s Eddie. I’m crashing at his tonight.” Sebastian wolf-whistled, but she ignored him. “He’s supposed to leave a key for me.”

Sebastian watched as Iris took a few steps away from him so she could answer the call.  _ “You still alive in there?” _ Sebastian silently asked Barry, even though he knew the primary was still inside his mind; he could feel his presence easily.

“ _ I hate you, _ ” Barry’s voice muttered.  _ “You know I hate horror movies.” _

The alter ego snorted with laughter.  _ “Well, unluckily for you, I love them, so you’ll just have to deal. You make me live through boring science stuff everyday; it’s only fair I get to watch a decent movie every once in awhile.” _

This time it was the phone in his own pocket ringing which made him jump. It was Cisco. “Hey, what’s up?” Barry asked, answering the call, even though Sebastian wanted to ignore it. Surely he deserved a night off? 

“Code 237 on Waid Boulevard.”

Barry frowned deeply. “Public Indecency?”

Through the phone he could practically  _ hear  _ Cisco’s confused expression. “Wait, I think I meant a 239.”

“Dog leash violation?” Barry snickered. Even though he had no idea what Cisco was actually trying to tell him, it was funny to listen to him figure out the codes Barry had memorised while he’d had chickenpox as a twelve year-old.

Caitlin’s voice came through the line, cutting off whatever attempt Cisco had been about to make. “Bad man with a gun. Go.”

Barry cancelled the call, looking at Iris. She was standing with her back to him and was clearly still on the phone with Eddie. Hopefully he would be back before she finished the conversation. Otherwise, he would have to get creative about what lie he spun.

In the end, apprehending the gunman took exactly one minute and seven-seconds. Barry was back in his exact spot, before anyone knew it, smoothing his windswept hair just as Iris cancelled the call and turned to him.

“Sorry,” she apologised, sliding the phone into her purse and moving back to his side. “Eddie says hi.” Sebastian seriously doubted that, but he managed to keep his opinions to himself for once. 

“Do you wanna grab a bite?” Sebastian asked, feeling his stomach grumble. Using his super-speed made him feel like he hadn’t eaten for a week. “I’m famished.”

Iris raised an eyebrow in surprise. “After the Mongolian barbecue we had  _ before  _ the movie, and the extra large popcorn and nachos you had  _ during  _ the movie?” Sebastian nodded his head firmly. “How are you not fat?”

Sebastian smirked and offered her his arm again. “I’ve been jogging,” he lied, making her laugh and roll her eyes.

***

When they had returned from college, the first thing Sebastian had done was hunt down a place of their own. Barry had wanted to move back in with Joe - he didn’t see anything wrong with living with the man he was so close to - but Sebastian had been pretty insistent that it wasn’t happening.

‘How am I supposed to get laid when Joe’s down the corridor?’ had been Sebastian’s closing argument. Barry hadn’t really been able to argue with that, and he supposed it kinda made sense. After living away from home for so long in Gotham at university that moving back home would certainly feel stifling for the alter ego.

Luckily for their budget, Barry was the primary which meant that he had final say in their decision. If Sebastian had had his way, they would be bankrupt and starving, but they’d be living in the most lavish penthouse Central City had to offer.

What they did opt for wasn’t exactly a penthouse, but with it’s living room, bathroom, kitchen and single bedroom, there wasn’t anything else they needed; even if to strangers, it probably seemed as though two people lived there. Barry and Sebastian had significantly different tastes when it came to almost every aspect of their lives; it wasn’t just movies they couldn’t agree on. While Barry preferred to listen to R&B and light rock, Sebastian was a musical and pop music fan down to his core. Even what they preferred to eat was different.

Sometimes, it really did feel like there were two people living in one body.

It was almost nine o’clock before Barry managed to pull himself away from the lab - leaving the evidence he had been working on to analyse overnight. Thanks to his superspeed, it literally took two minutes to get back to his building; hopefully people wouldn’t get wise to a red streak coming and going at all hours of the night and morning. He would have some interesting questions to answer if they did.

After grabbing a slow - normal speed, but slow for Barry, at least - bite to eat, Barry had settled down on the couch to watch something that wasn’t a zombie movie. There was no way he would be able to sleep with those images still fresh in his mind. 

It was closer to midnight than not when he managed to pull himself away from the documentary he had been trying to focus on, even though his eyes had been falling closed for almost an hour. 

As he went through the motions of getting ready for bed, acting from muscle memory more than anything else, the apartment door opened and he froze in fear. 

“Hello?” he called, swallowing around the fear, even if his first instinct was to let Sebastian loose on the intruder. 

Sebastian just rolled his eyes.  _ “This is why you should watch horror movies,”  _ he stated. “ _ No one shouts out to the person breaking in and survives.” _

Luckily for them both, it wasn’t an intruder who rounded the corner from the corridor into Barry’s bedroom. It was Iris.

“ _ Taking advantage of the key we gave her, I see.” _

“Iris,” Barry breathed in relief. “What - what are you doing here?” he asked, feeling a fresh wave of nerves creep into the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t help but think that there was something wrong every time she turned up unannounced.

When she lifted her dark brown eyes to his, Barry couldn’t help but notice how conflicted she was. Whatever was going on with her, was eating his best friend up. “Can I spend the night here?” she asked, avoiding his question completely.

Without hesitation, Barry nodded his head. “Of course,” he assured her, heading over to the dresser and grabbing her something to wear. As he turned back to her, Sebastian pushed his way to the front, “If you answer the question, that is.”

Instead of getting irritated at him for demanding more answers like she usually did, Iris sighed and sat down on the bed with a thud. “It’s Eddie,” she admitted, reaching down to take off her high heels.

Barry frowned and sat down beside her. “Did you two break up?”

“What? No,” Iris was quick to correct him with a shake of her head. “It’s…” She sighed again. “Hiding us from dad is getting harder. I think it’s starting to come between us.”

“Ah,” Barry murmured, running his fingers over the pattern on his trousers.

Iris took the oversized t-shirt he had pulled out for her and almost in the blink of an eye, she had changed out of her skirt and blouse combo into it. “How did you do it?” she asked, pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail.

Barry frowned. “Do what?”

“When you were dating Gabriel Paruolo - dad’s partner when we were high school - how did you keep it secret from him?” Iris asked.

Sebastian laughed and shook his head. “Gabriel and I weren’t exactly  _ dating,”  _ he argued. “I was fifteen, and only back from school during holidays, and he was twenty-six. Keeping it secret from Joe that I was screwing his partner was easy; neither of us wanted to die.”

“So you’re saying I need to keep quiet about Eddie, or my dad’s gonna shoot him?” Iris asked, her eyes wide.

“Pretty much,” Sebastian agreed. “But you already knew that anyway.”

***

Barry woke in the middle of the night to the sound of his phone vibrating where it lay on the bedside table. He had switched off the ringer before they’d fallen asleep the night before. Iris looked like she could use a night of undisturbed sleep.

One glance at the phone’s screen told him it was Joe calling. Carefully, Barry extracted himself from the iron grip Iris was holding him in as she slept - she’d been a cuddler in her sleep for as long as Barry could remember - and slipped out of the bed.

“Hello?” he answered, trying to keep his voice low as he tip-toed out of the room.

“Why are you whispering?” Joe asked, the frown obvious in his voice. “Never mind,” he answered himself. “I don’t want to hear about you taking boys home.”

Barry felt a blush creeping up his neck. “I didn’t… take anyone home,” he stammered, managing to avoid saying the gender of who Sebastian would most likely pick up. There was no way, Barry was brave enough to say the words  _ I’m gay  _ out loud; hell, he could barely even think them without nearly giving himself a panic attack. “Iris stayed the night and she’s still asleep.”

“Well, you’re going to have to leave her a note or something, because you need to get to STAR labs as soon as possible,” Joe ordered.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Barry demanded, but Joe had already cancelled the call, leaving Barry to dread what he would find when he got there.

***

What he did find, wasn't exactly life threatening. It was Joe and his friends discussing the idea of using the destroyed particle accelerator as a prison for the metahumans they capture who didn’t end up in the morgue, or obliterated.

An idea which Caitlin didn’t seem to happy about. Understandably so, Barry was pretty certain.

“Caitlin?” Harrison called, finally managing to snap the doctor from her daze. “Did you hear me?” Even Barry could see that his words hadn’t been heard, but he managed to bite Sebastian’s tongue to keep him quiet. “Cisco and I are going down to the accelerator. Are you coming?”

Fear immediately crossed Caitlin’s face and she opened and closed her mouth silently, trying to answer him. Before she could form the words, Barry spoke for her. “Actually, Dr Wells, I was hoping I could borrow Caitlin for some help back at the police station?”

The look of complete relief and adoration on Caitlin’s face was almost worth having to go back into work at such a late hour. Almost.

***

Barry was quickly learning that criminals had an uncanny ability of doing something illegal and/or immoral when he was in the middle of something. Which was exactly what the meta they were chasing did; admittedly he and Caitlin had been trying to chase him, so it was probably pretty fortunate.

After leaving Caitlin with a parting shot of, ‘Caitlin, I have to go,’ Sebastian had been on his way to the wall, where there were reports of a gas attack. Barry was pretty sure this wasn’t a normal human they were dealing with. 

He had been proved right when they had cornered the attacker in the staff-only corridors of the mall, only to have the man turn into a green mist before Barry’s fist came into contact.

A short while later, Barry’s chest was still hurting from breathing the gas in. Even after he’d gotten changed out of his suit into his regular clothes, he still felt like he’d smoked twenty cigarettes.

_ “It seemed like a good idea at the time,”  _ Sebastian grumbled, rubbing at his sore sternum.  _ “At least we managed to get a good sample for Caitlin to analyse _ .”

Speaking of Caitlin, Barry realised, he hadn’t seen the doctor since she’d left after making sure he was still alive.

Slowly wandering through the labs, it wasn’t difficult to find her. She was sitting in the treadmill room, her back to him as she stared into space. As Barry approached, he could see that she was running her fingers over the diamond engagement ring she still wore on her left ring finger.

“I’m sorry for scaring you earlier,” Barry whispered softly, sitting down beside her. “Leaving like that.” Sebastian was getting really good at running into danger - especially considering he still claimed he didn’t  _ want  _ to be a superhero.

Caitlin shook her head. “It’s okay. I get why you had to go. It’s just…” She shook her head with tears in her eyes. “What you said - those were the last words Ronnie said to me that night before he died.”

Barry sucked in a breath when she said that. He’d never thought about how what did and said could trigger painful memories for his friend. That was the last thing he ever wanted to do; he had some experience of dealing with trauma. He knew exactly how painful those reminders could be.

“ _ So tell her,”  _ Sebastian’s voice echoed in his mind, but Barry couldn’t do it. He was too afraid; too afraid of reliving that night again, and feeling the all-consuming terror that whoever the man in yellow was, he would be next.

Instead, he let Sebastian take the lead, and to his surprise, the alter ego actually managed to make himself sound just like the caring, and compassionate person Barry actually was. Maybe there was more to Sebastian than just snark and unwavering confidence.

“My mother died fourteen years ago,” Sebastian said softly. “I used to think that, the further away from it I got, the less it would hurt.” Caitlin looked at him with tears in her eyes, and he offered her a small smile. “But, some days, the pain is worse than it ever was back then. Sometimes it feels like I can’t breathe or even think for myself.”

He reached out, placing a hand on her arm. “Some things, you just can’t fight. The pain of that night, the memory and fear of reliving it, made me the person I am today. Running away from it was never a choice.”

Caitlin closed her eyes and rested her head against Sebastian’s shoulder. “For so long I’ve been terrified of going into that hole,” she confessed.

“How about I come with you?” Sebastian offered, even though Barry was freaking out about that prospect in his mind.

The relief that washed over Caitlin’s face silenced any argument from Barry. “I’d like that,” she whispered gratefully.

***

Sebastian ran his fingers over the suit where it stood, proudly on the display in STAR labs. The rest of them had left for the evening after incarcerating Mist, as Cisco had dubbed him; the other man seemed to be adamant that all their bad guys needed nicknames. Sebastian was alone with his thoughts; well, as alone as someone with a secondary personality could be, that is.

_ “I’m proud of you,” _ Barry told him.  _ “You could have gotten dad out of prison, but you didn’t.” _

Sebastian sighed and drummed his fingers against the lightning bolt symbol on the chest.  _ “Don’t remind me,” _ he muttered, tracing the bolt with his index finger.  _ “It would have been so easy to get him out and to Tahiti before anyone even realised he was gone.” _

_ “You know that’s not the right way, Seb,” _ Barry said sadly. “ _ As much as I would love to let you have your way, we need to do this properly. Joe and I will find a way to get him out. _ ”

Footsteps from behind him stopped Sebastian from answering, and they turned to see Caitlin standing in the doorway, holding a paper bag under her arm. “I don’t know about you,” she said, stepping further into the room. “But I don’t want to be alone right now.”

She placed the bag on the desk and pulled two items out. “I couldn’t decide which I wanted; alcohol or ice cream.”

A grin spread over Sebastian’s face as he moved closer to the doctor. “Both is even better.”

Caitlin smiled as well; one of the only real smiles he had seen from her since he’d woken up from his coma. “I like the way you think, Mr Allen.” She reached into the bag and pulled out two spoons.

As he accepted one of the spoons, his phone beeped from the desk. “Who’s Gabriel?” Caitlin asked, seeing the message before Barry did.

Barry grabbed the phone and quickly read the message, swallowing nervously when he saw it was from Iris. 

_ Dad knows about me and Eddie. I may have ‘accidentally’ told him about Gabriel - if I go down, I’m taking you with me! _

“Someone who’s probably going to need the witness protection program to hide from Joe,” Barry answered, bashing out a quickly reply to Iris, before turning the phone off. At Caitlin’s confused look, Barry grabbed the ice cream and the bottle. “It’s a long story,” he warned her.

Caitlin smiled and took his arm when he offered it. “Lucky for us both, I love long stories.”

***


	4. Going Rogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The arrival of an old friend and a new enemy in Central City brings a few hidden truths to the surface.
> 
> ***

There were some days when even Barry didn’t like his day job of being a CSI.

When they had been choosing majors for college, Sebastian had tried his hardest to get him to major in English and theatre studies, but Joe had been pretty insistent about them getting a degree in something that would guarantee him a job when he graduated.

Joe had practically already secured him a place at the Central City police lab, before Barry had even applied for the college course. His father had told him that, if Barry was so adamant about being a CSI, he was going to be one where Joe could keep an eye on him. In the end, Barry hadn’t been able to turn down Joe’s invitation; he already felt bad enough about going to Gotham for college, he couldn’t move away from Central forever.

So, he had majored in Forensic science and had loved every minute of it. Although, he had minored in theatre studies - mostly to keep Sebastian appeased, but also partly because he did genuinely like theatre. Even if Barry had never been brave enough to get on stage himself - any singing, dancing or acting he did, had always been Sebastian’s work. Not his.

Looking back though, there were some days when Barry wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that he had made the right choice when he’d decided science over the arts.

He was pretty sure today was going to be one of those days. First he had been late to a crime scene and then, without thinking, he had corrected Singh on how many bad guys had been robbing the truck. 

Of course, as soon as they’d gotten to the police station, every cop in the building seemed to want his attention for one thing or another. It had been almost an hour before he’d even managed to look through the book of mugshots Joe had given him. He had gotten a pretty good look at the face of the armoured car thief; if he was in the book, Barry was going to find him.

Luckily, he was a fast reader and had reached the picture of Leonard Snart before Joe had even finished telling him about not being able to get anything from canvassing the area.

“Hey guys,” Iris greeted them when Barry and Joe reached the foyer. “I thought I’d bring Central City’s finest java over to Central City’s finest.”

She offered the cups to them; one of which, Barry was more than grateful to accept. Joe, however muttered something about being off caffeine, before leaving them alone.

Iris sighed and fell into step with Barry as they headed up the stairs to his lab. “He’d been mad at me ever since I told him about me and Eddie.”

Barry snorted and shook his head. “You mean he’s mad at you because you  _ didn’t  _ tell him,” he corrected her.

“Why does that sound like you’re on his side?” Iris demanded, narrowing her eyes at him. “And why isn’t he mad at you? You lied to him about Gabriel for longer than I’ve been lying about Eddie.”

Barry smirked, making him look like his alter ego had taken over for a second. “Joe’s not talking to  _ Sebastian _ ; he’s the one who lied to him, not me. I’m just an innocent third party in all of this.”

Iris groaned. “I wish I had a second personality I could blame everything on,” she grumbled, before brightening up considerably. “Guess what? I’m starting a blog.” Barry raised an eyebrow and she explained further. “It’s something that Central City needs to know about. The Streak.”

“ _ May day. May day.” _

“The red blur you’ve been stalking on the internet for weeks? Are you sure that’s such a great idea?” Barry asked, trying to push the panic he was feeling down. She didn’t know it was him; there was no way she could know. “Take it from someone who’s been talking and investigating the impossible since they were eleven. Blogging about this is only gonna bring the crazies to your front door.”

Iris rolled her eyes, dismissing his concerns with a wave of her hand. “My blog is anonymous.”

“Nothing is truly anonymous,” Barry countered. “It’s not safe. You never know what kind of weirdos are out there on the internet,” he finished as they reached his lab.

“I can vouch for that,” a very familiar voice agreed, surprising them both. “The internet is full of weirdos and lots of nerd rage. Lots and lots of nerd rage.”

“Felicity?” Barry asked in surprise, feeling suddenly giddy at the sight of the friend he’d made while he’d been in Starling City.

***

Strolling through the park with someone as beautiful as Felicity Smoak, on an equally beautiful day surely had to be top of most guys’ wish list.

Barry didn’t say anything to her, but he was pretty sure that if Oliver didn’t do something about his relationship with Felicity soon, it was going to be too late for him. There was no way someone as amazing as her could stay single for long - it had to go against the laws of physics or something.

_ “First Iris and now Felicity. Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, I would revoke your gay card _ ,” Sebastian grumbled, but Barry ignored him.

“Iris seems very nice,” Felicity stated, totally not able to keep the casual tone in her voice. “And really pretty; like  _ super  _ pretty. Congratulations.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “What? Iris isn’t my girlfriend,” he stated, trying to put as much conviction into his voice as he could. 

“But you want her to be,” Felicity informed him, as though he wasn’t aware of his feelings. Which, considering he didn’t have those feelings, wasn’t exactly wrong, he supposed.

_ “One of us is going to have to tell her the truth,”  _ Sebastian pointed out. “ _ Either that, or we end up hurting her the way Oliver is by ignoring her. _

Suppressing a sigh, Barry moved to the side to let Sebastian come to the front of his mind. He didn’t argue with the alter ego, but he did plead with him to let Felicity down gently. She was a good friend and didn’t deserve her heart broken by him as well as Oliver.

“Felicity,” Sebastian began, as delicately as he could. “There’s something I didn’t tell you, back in Starling. Iris has a boyfriend.” He paused for a beat, taking in a breath before adding, “And, I kinda wish he was mine.” It wasn’t a total lie; he and Iris had bickered over who would get to Eddie first from the moment Detective Pretty Boy had walked into their lives, back when he’d still been a beat cop fresh out of the academy.

Felicity’s instinctive reaction was to frown in confusion, before her brain processed what he was saying and her mouth slowly formed an ‘O’ shape. “Oh god,” she groaned, screwing her eyes closed and pressing her hands over her face. “I just completely made an idiot of myself, didn’t I?” she asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

Sebastian laughed and pulled her hands away. “You didn’t,” he assured her. “It’s just not something I tend to advertise to those I’m not close with.” That was definitely a lie, but Sebastian figured it was easier than telling her that, when he wasn’t suppressed, he would flirt with almost anyone male; he generally didn’t like to restrain himself.

At those words - however untruthful they were - a smile curled Felicity’s mouth. “I’m glad you feel close enough to me that you can be open with me,” she whispered. “And while we’re on the subject of being honest… The reason I’m here…”

“Do you and Oliver need something?” Barry asked, in charge again now that the awkward conversation was over. 

Felicity shook her head. “I came to see  _ you _ , Barry. I heard you awoke from the coma.” She stopped walking, and Barry stopped in front of her. “Didn’t call, didn’t write, didn’t…  _ race  _ over.”

Barry’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oliver told you?” he hissed, feeling resentment swell inside of him. He hadn’t told  _ anyone  _ the billionaire’s secret, yet he’d easily gone and told Felicity. Admittedly, he would have probably told her himself at one point - she was quickly becoming one of his closest friends - but that wasn’t the point; it wasn’t Oliver’s secret to tell. After the big deal he had made about Felicity telling Barry who the Arrow was, he figured Oliver of all people would respect privacy.

“Honestly,” Felicity answered, breaking through Barry’s betrayed tirade of thoughts. “I heard the two of you talking on the rooftop in Starling that night.”

Barry couldn’t help breathe a sigh of relief at her words. Oliver hadn’t betrayed him. A feeling which made butterflies dance giddily in his stomach. 

“I want to see it,” Felicity continued, seemingly oblivious to the internal dilemma Barry was having right in front of her. 

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the suggestiveness in her voice, and she screwed her eyes closed again. “And by ‘it’, I mean your speed. Not anything else, because that would be weird and super inappropriate,” she corrected herself, making Sebastian laugh affectionately. 

He glanced around, trying to think of the best way to show her what he could do. They were in too public a place for him to outwardly show her right there; everyone would see him, and there would be another alert on Iris’s blog about The Streak. 

“Okay,” Sebastian murmured, coming up with a plan B. He placed his hands on Felicity’s shoulders and gently turned her in the direction of one of the nearby high rises. “You see that building? Keep your eyes on it.”

Without waiting for a response from her, he zipped out of the park, up the stairwell of the building and out onto the roof terrace. From here he could see most of the city about them, as well as Felicity in the park. Using his cell, he snapped a picture of her for proof, and did a few laps around the - thankfully empty - terrace.

He was standing back in front of her in six seconds, offering her the phone with a brilliant grin.

“That is so cool,” she breathed, zooming in on the picture to see her own face looking back at her.

Sebastian grinned widely and offered her his arm, which she readily accepted. “So, what did I miss in Starling?”

***

Not being able to feel part of his own body was a very unnerving thing, Barry decided. It hadn’t been long since his encounter with Snart in the theatre - barely more than half an hour - but the area he had hit him was still completely devoid of any kind of feeling. 

“It’s still numb,” he stated, touching the burn with his fingertips, before drawing them back with a hiss. The skin around the wound was freezing cold to the touch.

“It’s presenting itself like third degree frostbite,” Caitlin informed him.

“I thought he had hyper healing.” Felicity frowned from where she was still standing, across the room wearing her fancy dress. The same fancy dress which proved Barry and Sebastian’s theory that Oliver was an idiot for not realising what he was missing out on.

“It’s been slowed,” Caitlin said. “If your cells weren’t regenerating at the rate they are, your blood vessels would have frozen solid and the nerve damage would have been permanent.” She tilted a screen around to show them what his cells were doing. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

_ “The guard wasn’t so lucky,”  _ Barry thought, aiming the words at Sebastian as he tried to quash the feeling of guilt.

“Snart wasn’t another meta-human,” he said out loud, trying to focus on anything other than failing  _ again.  _ “He had some kind of gun. It froze things… slowed me down.”

The tension in the room increased when he said those words, but he didn’t pay too much attention. If he were being honest, he was too busy feeling sorry for himself at not being able to save everyone that he probably wouldn’t have even noticed if Oliver Queen himself had arrived.

Felicity frowned as she consulted the tablet in her hands. “According to his record, Snart didn’t even bother to finish high school, so how did he build a handheld high-tech snow machine?”

This time, even Barry noticed the tension in the room, and he turned to Wells in confusion. “STAR Labs built the cold gun,” Wells stated.

The words were barely out of his mouth, before Cisco shook his head and stepped forward. “Doctor Wells and Caitlin had nothing to do with this,” he argued. “I built the gun.”

A bolt of hatred laced confusion shot through Barry and he frowned deeply. “You did? Why?” He couldn’t understand why the people he had considered to be friends would do something so… god, Barry couldn’t even think of a word to fully explain what he was feeling towards the other man at that moment.

“Because speed and cold are opposites,” Cisco explained, regret obvious in every word he spoke. Not that Barry was going to let himself feel sympathy for him. “Temperature is measured by how quickly the atoms of something are oscillating. The faster they are, the hotter it is. When they’re cold, they’re slower on the atomic level. When there’s no movement at all, it’s called…”

“Absolute zero,” Barry finished, finally understanding why he had felt so strange after being hit by the cold gun. His cells had quite literally stopped moving. 

Cisco sighed and nodded in agreement. “I designed a compact cryo engine to achieve absolute zero.” He paused before adding, “I built it to stop you.” Sebastian glared at him. “I didn’t know you then,” Cisco immediately tried to defend himself. “I mean, what if you turned out to be some psycho, like Mardon or Nimbus?”

“But I didn’t, did I?” Sebastian snapped. Even he couldn’t believe Cisco would do something like this to him. Out of any of them at STAR labs, Cisco was the one who seemed to understand Sebastian’s sense of humour the most; he had thought they were close.

Caitlin stepped forward then, coming between Sebastian and Cisco. “We built the entire structure you’re standing in to do good, and it blew up,” she reminded Barry. “In the wake of that, you can understand why Cisco would want to be prepared for the worst. Prepared if we had been wrong about you being one of the good guys.”

Sebastian raked a hand through his hair; one of the tell tale signs he was desperately fighting the urge to hit something. “I understand that,” he stated. “But what I can’t understand is why you didn’t tell me what you did.” He looked back over at Cisco, even though every instinct inside him was telling him to leave STAR labs before he did something stupid. “After everything we’ve been through, I thought you trusted me.”

“I thought we were friends,” Barry added. “I mean, if you had just told me, I could have been prepared. But instead someone  _ died  _ tonight.”

Cisco looked down at his hands and swallowed thickly. “And I have to live with that.”

Sebastian shook his head. “No, Cisco. We all do.”

***

Even though there were times when Barry wished he could be alone - truly alone, without Sebastian lingering in the back of his mind - there were other times when he had never felt more grateful that he would always have someone around he could talk to, even if Sebastian could be a judgemental bitch at times, or just someone to keep him company while he tried to force his body to do things it didn’t want to.

Such as running faster than he ever had before. 

He couldn’t stay at the speed he had been going since waking up from the coma. Barry had tried to be a hero at that speed, but it hadn’t been enough. Someone had still died, and Barry hadn’t been able to stop it. He needed to be faster. He had to be.

“Barry!” Felicity’s voice broke through his thoughts, startling him a little.

Gradually reducing his speed so he was jogging, before stopping completely, Barry leant forward, resting his hands on his thighs as he tried to catch his breath. The sweat on his skin started cooling almost immediately, but it actually felt pretty good on his superheated face and neck.

“What are you doing here? You should go back to your hotel. Get some sleep,” he told her when he was able to breathe properly. 

There was a twinge of sadness to the smile that curled the corner of Felicity’s mouth when she replied, “You should too.” Her eyes widened a fraction and she quickly rushed to correct herself. “Not back to my hotel. I meant get some sleep.”

Sebastian smirked for a fraction of a second, before the seriousness of their situation returned and he shook his head. “I can’t,” Barry whispered. “Every time I close my eyes, I see that man’s face. I watched him die. I have to go faster.”

Felicity took a step forward and reached out, putting her hand on his shoulder regardless of the fact that he desperately needed a shower. “Barry, it’s not your fault.” She paused for a beat, before adding, “And it’s not Cisco’s either.” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, but even that didn’t deter the blonde IT expert. “I know you’re upset, but you have to look at this from his point of view.”

“No, I get it,” Sebastian muttered sullenly. “He didn’t trust me.”

A sigh escaped Felicity and she shook her head. “Barry, when you met us; me, Oliver and Dig, we were this well oiled archery machine.” Using Oliver and well oiled in the same sentence, certainly got Sebastian’s attention. “But it didn’t start out that way. Unlike you guys, we weren’t tossed together overnight. We came together one at a time.”

“Believe me, it took more than watching Oliver do the salmon ladder to make me trust him,” she added, a wistful smile crossing her face for a second.

Sebastian grinned widely, woes briefly forgotten as he couldn’t help stating, “I bet it helped though.”

Felicity offered him a small smile of her own, before turning serious again. “I’ve seen first hand what this life can do to people. It’s a lonely path, don’t make it any lonelier than it has to be.”  
  
***

All things considered, using his superspeed to get onto the train mid-journey wasn’t the dumbest thing Sebastian had done lately. At least this time there hadn’t been a parka-clad, cold gun wielding criminal on board making his getaway. At least this time, it didn’t derail.

This time, Felicity was the only one in the carriage, heading out of Central and back to Starling. Another thing, he probably should have checked before making his appearance.

The noise Felicity made when Sebastian landed in the seat opposite was enough to make him double over with laughter. “Did I just yelp?” Sebastian nodded his head, still not able to stop laughing. “I yelped,” she complained.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he snickered.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him, but there was no malice in her gaze. “Is there something wrong?” she asked, clearly noticing when Sebastian’s amusement faded.

Sebastian, ever the brave one, scoffed and shook his head. “Of course not,” he lied, getting up from his seat and dropping into the empty one next to her. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe on your way home. Don’t worry; trains are still one of the safest ways to travel.”

“I thought that was planes,” Felicity argued with a smile, managing to draw one out of Sebastian, before that too faded. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked again.

He thought about insisting that he was being serious and everything was perfect, but even Sebastian knew he wasn’t that good a liar. “I… I didn’t feel like being in Central, right now,” he confessed.

This time, the smile on Felicity’s face was sad as she leant her head on his shoulder; already feeling comfortable enough to start using him as a pillow. Her and Iris really were very much alike. “You know, forgiving Cisco for what he did is going to get easier eventually,” she whispered.

“I know that,” Barry agreed, his voice almost lost over the sound of the rumbling train. “I’m not really mad at him; not any more.” Felicity raised an eyebrow. “I’m really not,” he insisted. “I kinda get why he did what he did.”

_ “I don’t. _

Barry sighed. “I just wish he’d trusted me a little more,” he confessed.

Felicity sighed sadly and covered his hand with hers. “Maybe you need to find someone outside of STAR labs,” she suggested. “I’m not saying you’d have to tell him everything about being a meta-human, but having someone at home would make things easier, wouldn’t it?”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Like you have back in Starling, you mean?”

“That’s different,” Felicity argued, shaking her head. “This isn’t about me and Oliver.”

“Of course not,” Sebastian drawled, rolling his eyes. “You just work with one of the hottest guys in Starling City; but you expect me to believe you’re not interested in him.” Felicity looked at him in surprise when he admitted that he thought Oliver was hot. “What? I have eyes,” he retorted.

Felicity laughed. “Even if he was interested, it would be too complicated. Romantic entanglements make everyone a target. It’s too dangerous.”

Well, that didn’t sound like something Felicity would say, Barry thought to himself, and Sebastian said as much. “That’s not you talking. That’s Oliver.”

“What’s the matter with us?” Felicity grumbled, leaning her head back against the seat. “We’re young and attractive, we should have no trouble finding guys who actually  _ want  _ to date us.”

Sebastian nodded solemnly. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been more attracted to guys I couldn’t have.” Felicity snickered. “I mean, just look at Captain Cold.”

Felicity mouth fell open as she looked at him in surprise. “Barry!” She didn’t sound scandalised; she actually sounded… impressed with him.

Sebastian shrugged a shoulder. “What? Don’t try pretend you don’t wanna know what’s hiding under that Parka.”

***


	5. Plastique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Losing people he had promised to save was starting to become a disturbing constant in Barry's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of the 30k I have written of this story, this chapter is the one that's given me the most trouble. Plastique isn't one of my favourite episodes anyway, but I didn't want to skip any moments of Barry & Seb's journey to becoming a superhero.
> 
>  
> 
> *** WARNING ***
> 
> The second half of this chapter contains the use of drugs to forget about a canon-character death. There is also a reference to recreational drug use in the past.
> 
> ***

If there was one thing Sebastian loved almost as much as sex, it was drinking. Hell, if he and the guy he had picked up were drinking  _ while  _ having sex, it was nothing short of perfection as far as he was concerned.

That had been why, when Iris had suggested they stop by the Irish bar a few blocks away from the police station, he had jumped at the opportunity to go with her. 

Barry hadn’t even tried to talk him out of going, which Sebastian was grateful for. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had been drunk, which was actually depressing.

“I’m so glad you invited Caitlin and Cisco,” Iris grinned, crossing the room and slumping against the bar next to where Sebastian was stood.

He grinned as he flagged down the guy behind the bar. “They’re cool right?” He ordered two shots for them both, which were promptly deposited in front of them.

“They saved your life, Seb,” Iris reminded him. “That makes them the coolest people I’ve ever met.” Sebastian’s mouth fell open in mock horror and she rolled her eyes with a smile. “You’re not cool, nerd.”

Sebastian laughed and stuck his tongue out, before grabbing the shots and handing one to his best friend. They clinked their glasses together, before downing the liquid in one gulp. “Wow, that’s strong stuff,” Iris murmured, shaking her head at the potency of the vodka, before heading over to the dartboard where Eddie was beckoning her.

However, Sebastian didn’t feel the same way. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that he recognised the taste and smell of vodka, he would have been convinced he’d just drunk plain old water.

With a scowl, Sebastian ordered a tray of shots before heading over to the table where Cisco and Caitlin were sitting.

“Guys, we have a problem,” he greeted them, setting the tray down on the table. Using his superspeed, he downed each of the twelve shots, none of which affected him like they should; while they all tasted like vodka, they had about as much strength as glasses of water. “I can’t feel anything,” he stated, turning the last of the glasses upside down with a flourish.

Cisco laughed. “That’s usually what happens when you drink too much, dude.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I’m not drunk,” he swore. “I can’t feel  _ anything _ . The alcohol is not affecting me. At all.”

Caitlin frowned deeply, understanding what he was saying before Cisco did. “It must be your hyper-metabolism,” she theorised. “The alcohol isn’t strong enough to stay in your system. You’re burning through it at superspeed.”

Sebastian pouted and slumped onto one of the nearest stools. “You mean I’m never going to be able to get drunk again? Like, ever?” he complained. “Great. That’s just freakin’ great.”

***

Even though there was nothing that could convince Sebastian that not being able to get drunk was a good thing, it did mean that Barry didn’t have to process a crime scene with a hangover the following day.

He didn’t even want to think about how many lectures and scenes he had attended with a raging headache because of the alter ego’s liking for alcoholic beverages and pretty boys.

As far as Barry was concerned, Sebastian not being able to get drunk was karma finally catching up with him.

“Barry, what have you got?” Joe asked, being careful to not step on any evidence as he got closer to his son.

Barry sighed with frustration and got to his feet, clicking his flashlight off. “Bombers typically have their own unique signature. Crimped wires, fragmentation. Something that says ‘I did’.” He scanned his eyes around the room, before looking back at Joe. “You show me a bomb, I can usually find a clue in it  _ somewhere _ .”

Joe frowned. “It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“Yeah,” Barry agreed. “I haven’t found  _ any  _ sign of an actual bomb. It’s as if the floor blew itself up.”

They both looked up as Eddie approached, looking excited about something. “Security guard said our bomber was a woman; red hair. I’ve checked the cameras, but the security feed must have been cut; there’s no video of her.” Both Barry and Joe sighed heavily; this case was getting weirder. Before they could dwell on their lack of evidence, Eddie continued, “There might be something else, though.”

Together, the three of them walked a short way down the corridor to a file room. “Some kind of charge blasted the doorknob off,” Eddie explained. “This is the only room that was broken into, and all the others doors were locked. Whoever she is, our bomber targeted this room for a reason.”

“Any idea what’s missing?” Joe asked, his eyes scanning the room as he spoke, just like Barry’s were. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place.

Eddie shook his head. “I can only guess it’s one of these files. It’s gonna take weeks to figure out which one.”

From where he was leaning on one of the cabinets, Barry sighed quietly to himself. Ever since he had gotten his powers, he’d been the one to do the menial tasks that would normally take ages - like searching through all the files.

_ “Stop moaning,”  _ Sebastian instructed. “ _ It’s going to take like a minute tops.” _

_ “Doesn’t mean I have to like doing it,”  _ Barry retorted, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the alter ego; Sebastian was the more immature one, not him. He wasn’t about to stoop to his level.

In the end, Sebastian was right. After Joe had left with Eddie, it had taken exactly a minute to find the file that had been taken.

_ “Told you.” _

***

Embarrassingly enough, losing his suit in the middle of the city, leaving Barry in nothing more than his underwear hadn’t been the first time he’d been naked in public.

“ _ At least this time we weren’t going commando _ ,” Sebastian pointed out as Barry zoomed into the cortex, zipping past Cisco and Caitlin before they could see anything. 

_ “Like I said last time you brought it up, I’m never going commando again _ ,” Barry retorted, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and grabbing a t-shirt.

_ “We’ll see, _ ” Sebastian taunted.

At the desk, Caitlin and Cisco were looking at him with equal expressions of confusion and concern. “Uh…” Caitlin said, trying and failing to find words to ask what was going on.

“Don’t ask,” Barry muttered, shaking his head and pulling on the t-shirt.

“I’m gonna ask,” Cisco argued. “Where’s my suit?”

Barry sighed. “It’s… gone.”

Cisco looked as though Barry had just told him he’d run over a puppy on the way back. “What do you mean ‘gone’? What did you do to my suit?”

“It blew up.” At Caitlin’s horrified look, he quickly added, “I managed to get out of it before it was ‘kaboom’.”

The concerned look faded a little, but not by much. Cisco wasn’t getting over the loss of the suit any time soon, but they had bigger things to focus on at that moment.

“Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci,” Barry muttered, “she’s not carrying bombs. She is the bomb. She touched the emblem on my suit and turned it into a bomb. She’s a meta-human.”

***

Another meta-human. Another crisis to save Central City from. Another life which had been lost in the process.

Barry had tried so hard to save Bette from the fate which seemed to befall most of the meta-humans they came across. Even Sebastian had been intent on saving her (Barry wasn’t allowed to call Seb as superhero). But in the end none of it had mattered.

Eiling had shot and killed Bette in front of him. Yet again, Barry had been too slow to stop it. Maybe Oliver was wrong and Wells right; maybe there really was nothing special about him. Everyone he got close to seemed to die, regardless of how hard he tried.

He couldn’t even think of a way to get his father out of prison, that didn’t involve Sebastian breaking into Iron Heights. But that didn’t mean he was willing to stop trying. Barry and Joe had made a decision that they were going to pour over every last piece of evidence they could find to try figure out who really killed her.

The day-shift were already starting to leave when Barry pulled himself away from his mom’s case board. He had been studying the information he’d collected for hours and at one point, Joe had even joined him. But, even Joe had to draw a line at spending all evening at work when he didn’t need to, and he had wished Barry goodnight before heading home.

Barry had reminded in the exact same position, re-reading the articles he already knew by heart once more.

There was something he’d missed. There had to be.

He couldn’t let anyone else down. Not again. He wasn’t going to get someone else get hurt because he was inadequate enough to do something about it.

Wordlessly, Sebastian steered Barry over to the computer in the corner. The primary had no idea what Sebastian wanted to do, but Barry didn’t fight him. If he were being honest, he wasn’t even sure he had any fight left in him.

It didn’t take long for Sebastian to log onto the computer and access the CCPD’s criminal database. A few more keystrokes was all it took to find what he was looking for.

“You said you were done with all that,” Barry stated wearily when he realised what Sebastian had been looking for.

The alter ego shrugged a shoulder as he scribbled down the name and address he’d found. “Any normal person would be looking for a drink after a day like today. Since we’re not normal and can’t get wasted... I’m improvising,” he muttered, closing the program and shutting off the computer.

“It might not even work,” Barry pointed out. He wasn’t protesting and Sebastian knew it; the primary needed the escape as much as Sebastian did.

Sebastian grabbed their jacket from the hook. “Well, I’d say there’s only one way to find out, wouldn’t you?”

***

Getting the Vertigo had been disturbingly easy for Sebastian; far easier than it had been to score anything back in college.

Even though the Arrow had put Count Vertigo away, there were still plenty of drug runners who had stashes to sell. Getting a drug like Vertigo off the street was never going to be an overnight process. For every dealer they managed to catch, there were two more willing to take their place.

Sebastian had only bought three pills; he didn’t need any more, and probably wouldn’t even take all three, but the dealer had insisted that three was the minimum purchase, and he had been too eager to get his hands on the drug to argue.

Barry had been silent in the back of his mind since they’d left the police station, but Sebastian could feel his disapproval burning through their body. Not that it was going to stop him; he needed to do  _ something  _ to help him forget that he’d let Bette get killed and alcohol wasn’t going to cut it.

Vertigo was going to be the next best thing. Even if there was no promise that it would work.

After a quick outfit change, Sebastian had sped across the city, heading for his second favourite of the nightclubs Central City had to offer. While his first favourite was actually a pretty respectable place and somewhere he wasn’t ashamed to take Iris, this one was the complete opposite. It made the term ‘dive bar’ seem too classy.

“ _ This place is worse than Scandals,”  _ Barry grumbled as they flashed their ID to the doorman before sauntering past without so much as a backwards glance.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “ _ Compared to this place, Scandals was  _ so  _ vanilla _ ,” he drawled, heading straight to the bar. 

The bartender gave him a blatant once over, taking in Sebastian’s skin-tight jeans and barely-fastened tight, black shirt, before asking what he wanted. When Sebastian ordered a bottle of the top-shelf vodka, he raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn’t question him.

_ “Please try to not spend all our money _ ,” Barry requested as the alter ego forked over the insane amount of money the bartender requested for the bottle.

“ _ It’s not my fault I don’t share your penchant for cheap vodka,”  _ Sebastian retorted, grabbing the glass and bottle, before heading away from the bar.

When he was a safe distance away from prying eyes, Sebastian used his super-speed to swallow one of the vertigo pills with a mouthful of vodka.

The vodka didn’t taste of anything, even though it was top shelf, and the pill tasted vile.  _ “Spending $100 on vodka seems like a good idea until you realise you bought an expensive bottle of water, _ ” Sebastian grumbled, taking another drink which didn’t taste much better.

From the stage, the DJ changed the track from some shitty R&B track to something more pop/dance centric; something much more Sebastian’s style.  _ “That’s more like it.”  _

Gracefully moving across the dancefloor, Sebastian felt the stress of the day start to fade away. The Vertigo was starting to work, thank god, although it wasn’t working as fast as he would have hoped. Still, he’d take what he got all things considered. 

Even though it was the middle of the week, the dancefloor was packed, but Sebastian managed to slip through the throng until he was in the middle; pausing to make out with a couple of hotties on the way past, of course. He wasn’t dancing with anyone in particular, but Sebastian didn’t care. He didn’t need a partner; he was hot, and confident enough that he knew it without being overly cocky. People would find him eventually, they always did.

Thankfully (he wasn’t sure how long the Vertigo would stay in his system, and he really didn’t want to use all three pills) he didn’t have to wait long. He was busy rolling his hips enticingly to the music when he felt his ass brush against someone, and firm hands landed on his hips.

“Hello, gorgeous,” a British voice murmured in his ear and Sebastian’s knees almost buckled. 

An anonymous fling with a hot British guy? Well, he could definitely cross that off his bucket list.

Sebastian grinned, but didn’t turn around. He continued dancing like he had been before, only this time he purposely rubbed up against his partner. “Hey, yourself,” he purred, closing his eyes briefly as they moved in time with the music.

“Why don’t we get out of here?” the other man asked, kissing Sebastian’s neck softly. “Take this something a little more private.”

A quiet moan escaped Sebastian’s mouth - not that it made a difference; the club was so noisy it wouldn’t have mattered - and he turned around to face his partner. In the dim light of the club it was difficult to fully see what he looked like, but honestly Sebastian didn’t actually care.

He wasn’t fat or ugly, so Sebastian didn’t give a damn.

Sebastian nodded his head and allowed the other man to lead him across the club. They didn’t exchange names, but then again, they didn’t need them. Neither were looking for a relationship, and names weren’t required for one night stands.

They made it to one of the booths, before the man Sebastian had named ‘Oliver’ - hey, he could dream - pushed him back against the wall and took a step closer. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he whispered, running his hand down Sebastian’s chest.

Normally Sebastian would complain about being called beautiful, but the vertigo was making him not care. Besides, there were probably worse things to be called.

Their first kiss was not sweet, nor romantic, but it never would have been. Their teeth clashed and noses bumped, but ‘Oliver’ palming him through his jeans made Sebastian not given a damn.  

Sebastian was the first to break the kiss, but before ‘Oliver’ could complain the alter ego dropped to his knees and began unfastening the other man’s trousers.

He didn’t have to worry about being in public. This was the reason Sebastian would never bring Iris to The Hung Highwayman.

***

Not even two hours later, Sebastian was sitting at the bar to Ceili’s Irish Pub, nursing a club soda. 

The vertigo had faded out of his system long ago and Barry hadn’t been willing to let him take more than one pill; he had heard horror stories of people in Starling overdosing on the stuff - there was no way he wanted to experience that for himself.

Barry had taken them home, grabbed a quick shower before returning to the pub in more appropriate clothing; sometimes he really hated the outfits Sebastian insisted on wearing when they went to clubs.

As they’d sat at the bar, he had started to regret his insistence that they didn’t go home for the evening. Sebastian was right; not being able to drink sucked the fun out of everything.

His phone beeped from where it lay on the bar and he grabbed it, thinking it was a text from one of his friends. It was actually an alert from Iris’s blog. Sebastian had set up a dummy account and subscribed to her feed. Now, every time she updated with a sighting of the streak, he would get an alert. He tried to tell himself it was so he could monitor how much she actually knew, but even he wasn’t sure how much of that he believed.

The new post wasn’t much, thankfully; just a brief mention of the Streak zipping across the city, even though there had been no daring rescues.

Iris was smarter than everyone gave her credit for, Barry realised, scrolling through the rest of webposts on his phone. The first time he had read Iris’s blog, he had been surprised by how much information she’d actually managed to find. There were a lot of things on her blog that Barry hadn’t even realised Iris knew.

“ _ The only thing she doesn’t know is our name _ ,” Sebastian pointed out, continuing scrolling through the posts. They went all the way back to just after the particle accelerator had exploded.

_ “Which she can never know,”  _ Barry reminded him.  _ “You heard what Joe said; it’s safer if she doesn’t know the truth. _ ” A wave of sadness washed over him. “ _ Just look at what happened with Bette.” _

Sebastian sighed, but didn’t reply. There was nothing he could say. He might not want to be a super-hero, but even he didn’t want an innocent person to die. If he had been paying more attention, he would have been able to stop Eiling shooting Bette.

Someone dropping into the bar stool next to him pulled Sebastian’s thoughts away from the dark spiral they had been heading down.

Locking his phone before whoever it was could see what he had been reading - a habit he had developed to stop people from realising he was reading about ‘the impossible’ - he looked up to see who had interrupted him.

Sebastian let out a relieved sigh when he saw it was only Caitlin and Cisco; he really hadn’t been in the mood to deal with anything else. “Hey,” he greeted, plastering a smile onto his face. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We thought we should have a toast,” Caitlin explained as Cisco flagged down the bar tender.

Sebastian sighed; another reminder that his life was never going to be the same again. As if being able to run on water and outrun an explosion wasn’t strange enough. “Doesn’t work on me, remember?”

A small smile spread across Caitlin’s face as she reached into her purse. “Barry Allen, you of all people should know that  _ nothing  _ is impossible,” she chided. With a flourish, the doctor pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. “I distilled a highly fermented, potent suspension.” She handed the vial to him. “It’s basically five-hundred proof.”

Sebastian stared down at the vial he was holding in the palm of his hand. It didn’t contain much; barely more than a shot, but if Caitlin was right and it was as strong as she said, it would be more than enough for him to at least feel its affects.

“I figured if anyone could use a drink tonight, it was you.”

Sebastian nodded his head in thanks and unscrewed the cap, taking a sniff of the liquid. It certainly smelt strong, he thought; stronger than any vodka he’d ever had since before he had been legally old enough to drink. 

“So, here’s to Bette,” Caitlin said, holding her shot in the air. Cisco followed suit with the same words.

Sebastian smiled and lifted the vial. “To Bette,” he whispered, downing the liquid in one mouthfull.

Caitlin most defintely hadn’t been lying about how strong the liquid was, Sebastian realised as it burnt its way down his throat. He felt like a teenager who’d snuck into his dad’s liquor cabinet for the first time. It was an amazing feeling.

As quickly as the sensation appeared, it started to fade and by the time Sebastian had set the vial down, he was feeling his usual self again.

“And, it’s gone,” he drawled, rolling his eyes.

Caitlin frowned deeply and Sebastian could practically see the cogs whirring in her mind. “Work in progress,” she stated, placing her own glass down and grabbing his hand. “Come on, you and Cisco are going to teach me how to play darts.”

Cisco’s mouth fell open in surprise as he followed them across the bar. “Wait, you don’t know how to play darts?” he asking, exchanging looks of dis-belief with Sebastian.

“What?” Caitlin asked defensively. “It’s only throwing a pointy object at a board. How hard can it be?”

Sebastian exchanged a horrified look with Cisco. “How hard can it be?” he echoed. “Oh trust me, you’re going to suck at this. We’re going to kick your ass.”

The doctor smiled as she dropped her coat and bag into the nearest chair. “I’d like to see you try, Allen.”

“You’re on, Snow.”

***


	6. The Flash Is Born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry comes face to face with his childhood bully, Tony Woodward. This time, Sebastian wasn't about to take his taunts lying down.
> 
> He was going to make Woodward pay for picking on them in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains homophobic slurs.
> 
> Scenes in italics are flashbacks.
> 
> ***

_ Barry grinned at his best friend as they headed through the corridors of their elementary school.  _

_ “Increased pressure produces increased heat, and if you don’t release it, you get combustion,” he recited. _

_ Beside him, Iris shook her head. “I don’t know how you remember all this stuff, Barry.” _

_ Before Barry could answer, a voice from around the corner spoke as its owner stepped into view. “Because he’s a little freak; just like his dad.” Having a brace meant that Tony Woodward’s voice wasn’t as menacing as it had been in the previous years, but what he lacked in the vocal department, he more than made up for in size. _

_ There wasn’t a single person in their grade who wasn’t afraid to stand up to Woodward. _

_ “Don’t talk about my dad.” Even though he had meant for the words to come out threateningly, Barry only managed to murmur them at Woodward’s torso. He couldn’t even look him in the eye. _

_ Woodward laughed. “Or what, is he gonna murder me too?” He placed his hands on Barry’s shoulders and shoved him hard. Barry winced as he collided with the metal doors, hitting his head painfully, before sliding down to the floor. “Looks like you were made to take a beating, Allen.” _

_ As he turned and walked away, Iris dropped to the ground beside him, making sure he was okay. He tried to assure his friend that he would be okay - it wasn’t the first time Woodward had decided Barry was a good person to push around - but his head was hurting too much. Opening his mouth made him feel like he was going to be sick, so he couldn’t do anything other than press his lips firmly closed. _

_ “ _ One of these days, I’m going to make him regret pushing us around.”  _ The words weren’t said out loud; they were echoing around his head and Iris made no indication that she had heard them. They were what Barry had always wished he was brave enough to say, but he was barely strong enough to even think them. Barry knew exactly whose voice had spoken, but it couldn’t be possible; he had been doing such a good job with keeping  _ him  _ away. _

_ Beside him, Iris was looking at him in concern. “Are you okay?” she asked, making him lean forward so she could look at the back of his head. “I think you should see the nurse. You might have concussion, or something.” _

_ Concussion, Barry mused, allowing her to pull him to his feet. That would explain the voice’s presence now, after all this time. _

***

Back in the present day, adult Barry snapped himself out of the daze looking at the file had pushed him into. Now that he was looking at the picture of Woodward in the daylight, Barry wasn’t sure how he hadn’t realised who he had been facing the night before. Hardly anything had changed.

For the entire time they had been at Carmichael Elementary, Tony Woodward had been the bane of Barry’s existence. Even before Barry’s mom had died, Tony had made sure that every day was hell for the smaller boy, and he had managed to succeed.

At least until  _ that  _ day.

Barry didn’t know whether it had been the final blow to his head that had loosened his grip on the second voice in his mind for good, but he did know that when Woodward had pushed him, the desire to not be thought of as a freak hadn’t been enough and he couldn’t keep up the pretense any more. After that there had been no stopping Sebastian.

He had never been big enough to fight Woodward but, after that, Sebastian had given back as good as he got. Tony had clearly never expected his punching bag to stand up for himself, and thanks to Sebastian, Barry never got beat up by the larger bully again.

_ “Until now, _ ” Sebastian muttered sullenly.  _ “Apparently all my hard work was for nothing.” _

“Allen!” Eddie’s voice sounded from in front of him, making Barry jump in surprise.

“Hey,” Barry greeted once he had recovered, wondering how long Eddie had been standing in front of him, trying to get his attention. “Is there something wrong?”

Eddie shifted and looked around nervously; he looked like he was expecting a metahuman to jump out an attack him. “Listen, I saw something last night that I just can’t get my head around.” Barry made a noise he hoped sounded encouraging, and Eddie continued, “I fired a dozen rounds at our car thief, and it was like they sparked off him.”

Barry swallowed nervously as he scrabbled around for something to say. Joe had warned him that Eddie might have seen something unexplainable; he just hadn’t expected it to be him that Eddie confided in. 

_ “You  _ are _ the biggest nerd any of them here know,”  _ Sebastian pointed out unhelpfully.

“Well… I mean, he must have been wearing some kind of body armour,” Barry mumbled, making Sebastian mentally roll his eyes. 

_ “Seriously, your lies are getting worse _ .”

_ “You’re more than welcome to try if you think you can do better,”  _ Barry snapped back. Luckily for them all, Iris had arrived and stolen Eddie’s attention away from Barry.

_ “Next time we have to make up a story, I’m in charge whether you like it or not,”  _ Sebastian threatened.  _ “I still can’t believe she’s not talking to us, though.” _

***

“You know,” Cisco began as soon as Barry had finished explaining what had happened with Woodward the night before, “I’m starting to think you have the worst luck in the world.”

Sebastian snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes. “What gave that away? Watching my mum get murdered, or the whole being struck by lightning thing?”

Cisco frowned. “Well, neither,” he admitted. “I meant that only you could have your childhood nemesis become an unstoppable meta-human. Dude, it’s seriously messed up.”

“I wouldn’t say Woodward was my childhood nemesis,” Sebastian argued. “That sounds too… superhero-like.”

Cisco scoffed. “Barry, I hate to break this to you, but you  _ are  _ a superhero. I think it’s time you start accepting it.”

_ “Never gonna happen,”  _ Sebastian stated, aiming the words at Barry. Out loud he said, “Ignoring my feelings about superheroes and villains, what are we going to do about Woodward?”

A grin spread across Cisco’s face and even Caitlin looked a little giddy. “I’m glad you asked,” the latino man answered, leading them into their training room. “We’re going to train you, man! Karate-Kid Style!”

He waved his arms in front of what Sebastian could only describe as the weirdest looking robot he had ever seen. In fact, if he hadn’t seen a similar-ish one in the Arrow’s lair, he would have had no idea what it was for; not that he had any idea what it was called.

“I call him Girder,” Cisco told him almost as if he could read Sebastian’s mind.

_ “I’m pretty sure that’s not it’s official name,”  _ Barry said, almost managing to make Sebastian laugh out loud, and forcing him to clear his throat to cover up the chuckle.

Caitlin sighed and shook her head. “For the record, this is not my idea,” she pointed out.

As always, Cisco wasn’t deterred by his friend’s lack of faith in his test. “Fighting is physics. It’s not about strength or size.”

“Tell that to Woodward, and every other bully in the world,” Sebastian muttered darkly.

“It’s about energy and power,” Cisco continued. “If you channel your speed the right way, you can totally take this bad boy down.”

***

The first attempt at taking Girder down didn’t go well, even Sebastian would admit to that. Cisco had managed to rig the robot to move and Sebastian hadn’t fully anticipated how much power was being pumped into the thing.

It had managed to throw him across the room before of them had even realised. 

“The good news is that you’ve only dislocated your shoulder,” Caitlin told him after giving him a thorough once over.

Sebastian winced. “And the bad news?” There was always bad news.

“This is going to  _ very  _ painful,” she told him, smiling apologetically. “But at least it’ll be quick.”

The alter ego groaned and gritted his teeth. “Just do it,” he muttered, averting his eyes. Just because he had to feel it, didn’t mean he had to  _ see  _ it.

Caitlin placed her hands on his arm and shoulder, but before she could actually start the torture, Barry’s phone rang. It was Eddie.

“Hey, Allen. We found the stolen humvee in the alley at Fremont and Lawrence. We need you down here to do your thing.”

Sebastian was seconds away from telling Eddie where he could stuff his order, but Barry overtook him and told the detective that he would be there in a second, before cancelling the call. 

As soon as the call was cancelled, Caitlin tightened her grip and popped his shoulder back into place without another warning, drawing a scream from the speedster - even they weren’t sure if it had come from Barry or Sebastian.

***

His shoulder was still stinging a little when Barry slid to a stop at the crime scene Eddie had called him to. The pain was fading and would probably disappear in an hour or so, but in the meantime it would make him uncomfortable for a while.

“What have we got?” Barry asked Eddie, following the detective toward the stolen Humvee.

“The rig Tony Woodward boosted last night. No sign of the stolen ATM’s, though.” Eddie led Barry around to the back of the car. “He’s gonna have one hell of a time breaking ‘em open.”

Sebastian snorted. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” he muttered.

Barry set his forensic kit on the ground beside the truck and flipped it open, ready to do his work. He paused when he heard Eddie call his name, and looked over his shoulder at the detective.

“I noticed there’s something going on with you and Iris,” Eddie began, clearly trying to be diplomatic.

Barry sighed and hung his head. He really didn’t want to have a discussion about Iris with her boyfriend. He had tried to talk her out of writing about the Streak, but it had spectacularly failed and now she wasn’t talking to him. There wasn’t really much else Eddie needed to know.

“Look, Eddie,” Sebastian commented, trying to keep his temper in check. “We had a fight and I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it with you.”

A strange look crossed Eddie’s face, but Sebastian couldn’t place the expression. “I get that, and I get that you two go way back…” He shifted uncomfortably and smiled bashfully. “To be honest, I was a little threatened by you at first.”

Sebastian couldn’t help him, he blurted out a laugh at Eddie’s words. “Threatened, by me?” he scoffed, chuckling to himself. “Oh you have no idea how much you don’t have to worry about me,” he murmured, trying to breathe through his amusement.

A blush coloured Eddie’s cheeks. “I just meant that I’ve seen how close you two are. You seem like a good guy, Barry. I just want Iris to be happy and I know you do too. From my experience, good friends are hard to find.”

From behind them another cop grabbed Eddie’s attention, pulling him away from Sebastian, but the alter ego didn’t even notice anyway. Eddie’s words had pulled them into  _ another  _ childhood memory.

Damn Woodward. He was stirring up a lot of things neither Barry nor Sebastian wanted to think about.

***

_ The boxing gloves were heavy on his hands, and were making it hard for Sebastian to land a punch where Joe had instructed him to. It didn’t help that he was fighting Joe; he couldn’t hit the man who had taken him in when he had no-one. _

_ Iris didn’t seem worried about her dad being on the receiving end of his punches. “Come on, Barry. You can do it.” _

_ Barry. Of course. She didn’t know about Sebastian; didn’t know that the person she was talking to, and had spent hours gossiping about the new cute boy down the street, wasn’t Barry Allen. _

_ Sebastian might be weak in the body - he was only eleven, he still had time to improve - but as far as he was concerned, Barry was weak willed.  _

“I’m not weak willed _ ,” Barry’s voice echoed in his mind, and Sebastian had to fight to not laugh.  _

_ He had been going through life with Barry for eleven years, and there were very few times when Sebastian could honestly say that Barry had done something brave on his own. Auditioning for the school play in second grade; Sebastian. Reading aloud in class; Sebastian. Raising a hand to answer a question; Sebastian. _

_ The only time Barry had ever truly acted without him had been the three months between their mom dying and Tony Woodward pushing them against the lockers. Barry had decided he hadn’t needed Sebastian’s help to deal with the grief of losing a parent, and for a while, even Sebastian had to admit that he had been right. _

_ But then Tony had reared his ugly head and it had physically  _ hurt  _ Sebastian to stand by and let Barry - and by extension, himself - get bullied.  _

_ Sebastian had fought against Barry as hard as he could, trying to loosen the primary’s grip on him, but Barry’s insistence on being normal was too firm.  _

_ Luckily for them both, something had changed when Tony hit Barry. _

_ Now Sebastian was free - or at least, as free as he ever would be - and more than ready to enact some revenge on the bully. _

_ Barry hadn’t wanted to tell Joe what happened at school, and for once, Sebastian had agreed. He wanted to take care of Woodward himself. _

_ The decision had been taken out of their hands by Iris, who had blurted the truth out as soon as they’d returned home. To their surprise, Joe hadn’t gone straight to the principal like Barry and Sebastian expected he would. Instead, he and Iris had taken Barry to the park. They were going to teach him to defend himself. Or rather, teach Sebastian, since Barry was too afraid to think about throwing a punch. _

_ “Bar, focus,” Joe chided. _

_ Sebastian gritted his teeth and tried to hit Joe again. “I am!” _

_ When the hit didn’t connect, Sebastian growled and took aim again. The second hit wasn’t much better than the first, and Joe sighed, grabbing his hands before he could try again. “Son… son… you’re getting frustrated.” _

_ Frustrated wasn’t the word Sebastian had been planning on using. He’d heard some adults saying a lot worse words after his dad had been taken away. Sebastian had no idea what most of them meant, but he was pretty sure they would have gotten his point across a lot better than ‘Frustrated’. _

_ “You need to learn to control your emotions.” _

_ Joe sighed again and got to his feet, pulling Sebastian into his arms. The alter ego didn’t want to go - he was a big boy who didn’t need coddling - but Barry longed for the comfort, so he allowed the touch. At least, that’s what he told himself. _

_ “Son,” Joe began, pulling Barry back against his chest and holding him tightly, “sometimes the best way to win a fight isn’t to start one. If you  _ do  _ come up against someone you know you can’t beat, be smart. It’s okay to run the other way.” _

***

Run the other way. Advice Sebastian had never been good at following. From the moment he had been freed from Barry’s almost-iron clad grip at the age of eleven, Sebastian had been the driving force in almost every confrontation they’d had.

He didn’t do running away.

But apparently he did running  _ into  _ danger, which seemed to be happening more and more frequently since they’d woken up from the coma. He also had a track record for reckless behaviour; such as using his superspeed to over take Eddie during a police chase.

_ “Are you insane?” _ Barry snapped. If he could hit the alter ego without hurting himself, Sebastian was pretty sure he’d already have a black eye.

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders.  _ “The guy was getting away,” _ he retorted. “ _ What was I supposed to do? You weren’t doing anything, so I had to take matters into my own hands.” _

Barry growled, running his hands through his hair. “ _ Eddie might be cute, but he’s not an idiot, Sebastian. Besides, I thought you said you were better at excuses than I was.” _

Cisco bursting through the door broke up their argument, and Barry turned his full attention to the other man. “The gravel you pulled from Tony’s ride contains 76.8% hematite. That’s consistent with the mines at Keystone Ironworks.”

“Which closed down ten months ago,” Barry realised. He remembered reading out the mine closing when he had been catching up on what he’d missed. The mines closing had been a big deal at the time - a lot of people had found themselves out of a job almost overnight. “It’s the perfect hideout.”

Caitlin chose that moment to enter the training room, wearing her usual stern expression. Barry was starting to wonder if Sebastian was right about her not having another look. “Barry, do you mind telling me about this?” she asked, holding up her tablet, turning it around so he could see the screen.

I have info about someone you’re looking for. He was here. You know where to find me.

***

Woodward had Iris, and it was all his fault. 

_ “It’s  _ not  _ our fault.”  _ Sebastian was oddly calm in his mind, and if Barry hadn’t been so scared for Iris, he would have been scared of his alter ego.

A lot of the time, Sebastian was mostly bravado; loud, cocky and brash. But that’s all the loudness was; a facade. It was when he felt calm in the face of danger, that he was at his most dangerous. There was really no telling what Sebastian was going to do.

_ “It’s Woodward’s, _ ” Sebastian continued.  _ “I’m going to make him pay for preying on us once and for all. _ ”

Barry didn’t argue; he agreed completely that Woodard needed to be stopped and Sebastian was the only one who could do it. If not for their sake, but for Iris’s.

Arriving at the elementary school they had all attended, Sebastian didn’t have the time to fully get Iris to safety, so he had to improvise. Sliding between Woodward’s legs, Sebastian grabbed Iris and raced her to the far end of the corridor, resting her gently against the lockers. 

“Wait here,” he instructed, turning back to Woodward.

This time Woodward was prepared, and Sebastian barely managed to duck the meta-human’s blows. Even using a nearby flagpole as a weapon hadn’t hurt Tony; the metal had merely bounced off of his skin when it made contact.

_ “We can’t beat him _ ,” Barry murmured in Sebastian’s mind when he crashed to the floor after Woodward had finished using him as a play thing.

As much as it pained him to admit, Sebastian was seconds away from agreeing with Barry when Joe’s voice dragged itself out of his memories.

_ “It’s okay to run the other way.” _

Sebastian smirked. Run the other way. Even fourteen years ago, Joe had been able to give him advice that would save his life. Woodward was getting closer, preparing himself to deliver what would probably be a kill shot of some kind. If he was going to act, he needed to do something right then.

Woodward was two steps away from him when Sebastian pushed himself to his feet and ran out of the building, heading in the opposite direction. He hated that he was leaving Iris behind - he would never forgive himself if something happened to her while he was gone - but for the hairbrained plan he had in mind to work, he needed to focus on something other than his best friend right then.

5.3 miles away from the school, Sebastian skidded to a stop, panting to regain his breath as he turned back to the city. “You can’t be serious!” Barry exclaimed, apparently having only just realised what Sebastian was planning on doing. “You heard what Caitlin said. If you hit him at the wrong angle, you’ll shatter every bone in  _ my  _ body.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Technically it’s  _ our  _ body,” he corrected the primary. “And I guess I’m just going to have to make sure I hit him the right way, aren’t I?”

Barry didn’t reply and Sebastian chuckled, he had won the fight. Now he needed to focus on Woodward and win the war. Rolling his shoulders, he took a deep breath and focused on the speed force he could feel running through his body. He remembered Cisco and Caitlin saying he needed to go over the 800-mile an hour mark. That was faster than he’d ever run before, but Sebastian knew he needed to.

He needed to save Iris. And possibly kill Woodward in the process.

Sebastian was still undecided on that last part.

***

In the end, Iris had taken the decision to kill Woodward out of Sebastian’s hands, and thanks to her, Tony was locked away in the pipeline where he couldn’t hurt anyone again.

_ “I hate him so much _ ,” Barry stated. Sebastian knew he didn’t have to say anything in response, the hatred flowing through their body was much his as it was Barry’s.

Behind the glass, Woodward stirred, jerking when he saw that he was in a cell. “What is this?” he yelled at Sebastian who was hidden in the shadows, just out of view. He had quickly figured out, the exact point where he could stand and still be hidden from view so he didn’t have to wear his mask all the time. “Where the hell am I?”

Sebastian smirked. “Somewhere you’ll never hurt anyone ever again,” he taunted.

A snarl curled Tony’s lip and he stepped closer to the glass, trying to see who he was talking to. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

He may have been hidden away perfectly in the shadows, but Sebastian wasn’t about to let the fact that he had finally beaten the childhood bully go by without claiming his victory. Even though Barry was pleading with him in his mind, Sebastian ignored him and took a step forward, into the light so Woodward could see his features.

“You know who I am.”

Tony frowned for a second, before recognition flittered across his face. “Allen?” he asked in disbelief. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I should have known it was you. A fag running around in leather, saving people; that just screams you.” He hummed and nodded. “Yup, I definitely should have known.”

Sebastian laughed and shook his head. He wasn’t offended by Tony calling him names. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard such a taunt, and he’d long since taught himself to not care. “Yeah, well, guess what?” This time it was his turn to taunt. “This  _ fag  _ kicked your ass today. How do you feel about that, Mr Macho Man?”

He took another step closer; if it weren’t for the glass, they would probably be nose to nose. If they didn’t try kill each other, of course.

“See, the thing that happened to you, Tony. It happened to me too,” Sebastian explained. “You got stronger and I got fast.” He smirked. “Fast enough to beat you. And I’m sure that gotta piss you off. You’re not going to hurt anyone again.”

Sebastian turned on his heel and walked away, stepping back into the shadows. Behind him, he could hear Tony calling for him to come back, and explain more, but he didn’t care. He was done with the bully.

“Maybe next time you’ll think twice and pick on someone your own size,” Sebastian added, before tapping his hand against the control panel and sealing Tony in, securing his fate as the pipeline’s latest convict.  
  
***

Iris was cleaning up an empty Jitters and for a moment Sebastian just stood in the doorway watching her work. He couldn’t believe how close he had come to losing her. Sebastian didn’t know what he would have done to Woodward if he had hurt even a single hair on her head.

He loved her too much to lose her.

_ “Now who’s pining over her _ ,” Barry taunted, making Sebastian chuckle and roll his eyes.

The sound of his laugh got Iris’s attention and she turned around, with an expectant grin on her face. When she saw it was only Sebastian, she murmured, “Oh. I thought you were someone else.”

Sebastian was dying to tell her that the Streak - the person she had clearly been expecting to arrive - was actually standing in front of her. He even opened his mouth to tell her - spill everything he had been keeping from her since waking up. 

But then his eyes fell on the bandage on her wrist, and he remembered why he had agreed to lying in the first place. Iris knowing who he was would only give the bad guys someone else to use as leverage against him.

Hell, Woodward had managed to use her against him, even though he couldn’t possibly know their connection.

“Joe told me what happened,” Sebastian said softly, stepping further into the coffee shop. “How’s the hand?”

A relieved smile appeared on Iris’s face. “Thankfully not broken,” she informed him. “Which, considering I’m right handed is a relief.”

There was an awkward silence between them, before both started to speak at the same time. Laughing, they broke off mid-sentences and Iris moved around the table, stopping when she was about five feet away from Sebastian, but still closer than she had been for almost a week.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

Sebastian smiled and reached out, pulling his friend into a quick hug. It felt a little awkward - not as comfortable as they usually were - but still, it was a start, so he would take it. “I’ve missed you too. When I heard that Tony took you… I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

Iris hugged him a fraction tighter, even as she chuckled and mocked him. “Aw, is big bad Sebastian Allen going soft on me?” For once, Sebastian didn’t bother to argue with her; he was too relieved that she was okay and talking to him again. “You don’t have to worry, anyway. My guardian angel was looking out for me.”

She didn’t say who she was talking about, but she didn’t need to. Even if Sebastian hadn’t been there to witness what happened first hand, there was really only one man in Central City who could save Iris from someone like Woodward.

“Do you want to hang out tonight?” Iris asked, pulling out of Sebastian’s arms and moving over to where her purse was. 

Sebastian smiled and nodded his head. “We can order pizza and watch a movie?” he offered, waiting for her to get her stuff. “I kinda promised Barry no more horror movies for a while though.”

Iris chuckled and flicked the lights off. “Sounds like a plan. And I promise not to talk about the streak tonight,” she swore.

“No,” Barry argued, surprising Sebastian for a second. “I want you to.”

Mentally Sebastian rolled his eyes, but outwardly he tried to not show his irritation at Barry. “What the fangirl means is,” Sebastian really wished  _ he _ could hit the primary right then, “I want you to talk about whatever you want. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.”

A brilliant grin spread over Iris’s face and Sebastian could tell she had been hoping he would ask her about the streak. “I’m glad you said that because the Streak is  _ amazing,”  _ she gushed. “He’s a little cagey about where he’s from and obviously who he is, because he wears a mask. But, there’s something about him that’s so… fascinating.”

Sebastian didn’t speak as Iris finished locking up Jitters and slid her arm through his.

“He has this amazing superspeed,” Iris continued as they headed down the street. “Like, seriously, Seb. When he moves, it’s like you can’t even see him. He comes and goes in the blink of an eye; in a…”

“Flash?” Sebastian suggested, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“ _ You’ve been wanting people to call us that since Oliver said it, haven’t you _ ?” Barry accused, and it took all of Sebastian’s willpower to not laugh outloud.

_ “Hell yeah.” _

***


	7. Flash vs Arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Oliver's paths cross in Central City, only it doesn't go quite as well as Sebastian would have liked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purposes of plot, I've had to swap Power Outage and Flash vs Arrow.
> 
> This isn't going to be the only interaction between Sebastian and Oliver, so don't worry. :-)
> 
> *** WARNING ***
> 
> Barry does refer to himself as having a disability. Again, this is in no way meant to trivialise mental disorders or disabilities. This is meant for entertainment purposes only.
> 
> ***

The museum was filled with people, even though it was a weekday. Barry had been surprised when Iris had arrived at the police station and announced that he was taking a longer than normal lunch, which wasn’t going to be interrupted unless Singh called and threatened him with being fired.

His sister had then proceeded to physically pull him down the street and onto the bus, bound for the Central City museum. All the while not telling him what was going on.

Halfway through the first exhibit, a visiting piece about the mysteries of the pyramids in Egypt, Barry decided he couldn’t take it any longer. He wanted to know what was going on.

“Okay,” he said, coming to a stop and forcing Iris to stand still as well since she was attached to his arm. “What’s this about?”

Iris grinned and tugged on his arm. “You said you wanted to see the Mars exhibit,” she reminded him.

Barry’s eyes widened in surprise. “That was months ago!” He couldn’t believe she remembered, especially since it hadn’t been mentioned since.

She nodded once, firmly. “And I bought tickets months ago,” she countered, surprising him even more. While Iris was thoughtful about buying gifts like that, planning in advance to buy tickets wasn’t something she would usually do. There had to be something else on her mind.

“I don’t believe you brought me here just because I said I wanted to go to the exhibit,” Barry argued. He wasn’t complaining - he really did want to see the exhibit - but he couldn’t enjoy the rest of the day without knowing what she was up to.

A sigh escaped Iris’s mouth and she narrowed her eyes a little in a glare. “You can’t just accept something without questioning it, can you?” Barry shook his head, grinning a little. “I thought we could spend some time together.”

Barry frowned deeply. “What are you talking about? We always spend time together; we went to the movies two days ago, Iris,” he reminded her.

“No. Sebastian and I went to the cinema two days ago.” Barry’s mouth formed a surprised ‘O’ when he realised what she was saying. “We - me and you, Barry - haven’t hung out properly for almost a year; since before you got struck by lightning.”

He reached out, taking her hand in his. “Iris, you know I’m not bothered about you spending time with Sebastian. I’ve always known you had more in common with him, instead of me.” He wasn’t lying; at first he had been hurt that she didn’t seem to want to spend time with him, but as he’d gotten older, he’d come to appreciate the quiet times he had with his best friend more, because of how rare they were.

“Well, it bothers me,” Iris stated, looking up at him and he was surprised to see tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breath. “So, I thought we could come here, to the museum, and have fun - just the two of us. We both know Sebastian wouldn’t be seen dead in a place like this.”

Sebastian couldn’t resist commenting, “Damn straight,” before letting Barry back to the front of their mind.

Iris laughed and pulled Barry closer, wrapping him in a big hug. “What do you say, Barry? Shall we see if there really is life on mars?”

***

Sebastian was really going to have to figure out a way to stash his suit which made it easier to get to. Even though it didn’t take long for him to save the day at the bank, rush back to STAR labs to return the suit, and get back to the bank to do Barry’s day job, the running back and forth across the city was starting to make him feel dizzy.

He made a mental note to ask Cisco if there was anything he could do. Not that he was lazy or anything.

Even at normal, non-metahuman speed, processing the crime scene didn’t take Barry long. Being present during the actual crime meant that he knew exactly where everyone had been stood, and where he needed to look to find evidence.

Back at the Police Station, he entered his findings into the computer in his lab, before heading down to the main floor where Joe’s desk was. Only he wasn’t there. Eddie and Joe were in Singh’s office, with the door wide open so Barry could hear every word that was being said.

“Hey,” Iris greeted, stepping through the main doors and stopping beside Barry. “What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes following his and seeing the three police officers in Singh’s office.

Sebastian shrugged a shoulder. “Eddie’s trying to convince the Captain that the Flash is a public menace,” he muttered. He really wasn’t surprised that Eddie didn’t like the Flash; as far as most cops were concerned, the speedster was just another vigilante breaking the law. He was might as well be as ruthless as the Arrow had been when he’d made his first appearance in Starling.

Iris’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?” Behind them, they heard footsteps leaving the office and Iris immediately spun around to face her boyfriend. “So after weeks of me trying to convince you that the Flash is real, now that you finally do believe in him, you’re trying to have him arrested?” She practically foaming at the mouth, she was so angry. 

“I’m so glad we’re not on the receiving end of that,” Barry commented, making Sebastian smirk.

Eddie sighed and glared at Sebastian over Iris’s shoulder. “Thanks, Barry,” he muttered sarcastically.

Sebastian grinned and flopped down into Joe’s chair. “Sorry,” he replied, just as sarcastically, as Eddie muttered an excuse about not being able to go for lunch with Iris, before heading away from them.

Iris watched him go, irritation still showing on her face. “He’s just jealous,” she stated, clearly talking more to herself than anyone else.

An amused smirk spread across Sebastian’s face and he couldn’t help asking, “Jealous? Of the Flash? Should he be?” Behind Iris, he could see Joe glaring at him, but he didn’t care; he was having too much fun. The Flash was making Eddie jealous - there was no way that couldn’t be funny to Sebastian.

“Barry,” Joe said pointedly. Even though he knew he was talking to Sebastian, Joe calling him 'Barry' was his way of making it obvious that the primary needed to do something about his alter ego before he did or said something more inappropriate than normal. “Don’t you have work to do?” His eyes flickered over to the window and his meaning was clear again; they needed to get to STAR labs and figure out what was happening with the guys there.

“Fine,” Sebastian muttered, sliding off the chair and pecking Iris on the cheek. “I’ll see you later,” he whispered, throwing a final glare at Joe, before heading out of the station.

***

This was going to be it. This was going to be the moment Barry died, he just knew it. Sebastian had finally stepped over the mark and now Barry was going to be the one to suffer for it.

Sebastian was about to dive at their attacker - a police officer who had clearly been whammied if he was willing to shoot his own team - when an arrow came out of nowhere, and the officer was suddenly incapacitated.

Both Joe and Sebastian looked up in surprise, and the speedster couldn’t help grin widely at the sight of Oliver Queen standing above them, in his full Arrow glory.

“Nice mask,” he commented, his voice modulator disguising his voice, before he propelled himself upward through a hole in the roof.

It took almost half an hour for Sebastian to convince Joe that going after the Arrow wasn’t their biggest priority right then. Part of him understood why Joe wouldn’t want to let the vigilante go - as far as Sebastian knew, there was still a bounty on Oliver’s head, put there by police officers in Starling - but the rest of him (and Barry) knew that he couldn’t let his father catch up to Oliver. People finding out his real identity wouldn’t do any of them good.

When Sebastian finally did manage to break away from Joe, it didn’t take him long to figure out which direction Oliver’s motorcycle had headed in, and he even managed to overtake him, arriving at the safehouse almost a good five minutes before Oliver.

Skidding to a stop in front of Felicity and a very startled Diggle, Sebastian pulled the mask down with a grin. “By the way, I gave Oliver like, a half hour head start.”

Felicity grinned and put her Big Belly Burger drink down. “Hey, Barry,” she greeted, pulling him into her arms. 

Barry smiled and returned the hug, looking over at Diggle who still looked traumatised. “You didn’t tell him,” he realised.

The IT tech shrugged a shoulder. “Seeing is believing,” she chuckled, reaching up to close Diggle’s still open mouth.

Behind them, Oliver’s motorcycle revved once before coming to a stop. Sebastian turned around to face Oliver, ignoring Barry’s pleas that he be good. 

“Thanks for showing up back there,” he called as Oliver got off the motorcycle. “But I had him right where I wanted.”

Oliver hummed in a way that was obvious he didn’t believe a word of what Sebastian had said. 

“What? I was getting ready to make my move!” Sebastian insisted, getting defensive. He was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to warrant the other man's attitude.

 _"Calm down,"_ Barry tried to soothe him.  _"He was the same way when we found out about him being the Arrow, remember?"_

Sebastian did remember, but that had been over a year ago. The Arrow had a different ethos now, and Sebastian was a meta-human now; they weren't the same people they had been. He really couldn't work out why Oliver was acting like _he_ was suddenly the bad guy. 

The archer smirked a little, clearly finding something amusing in what Sebastian had just said. “What move? The one to the morgue?” He came to a stop near Felicity and Diggle. “We’re in the city working a case, and I heard the SWAT raid over the radio. Thought I’d come by," he smirked again, "watch you make your move.”

 _“Is he mocking us?”_ Sebastian asked in their mind. _“He’s mocking us.”_

Barry had to force himself to not roll his eyes as he took the decision to force the alter ego to the back of his mind. Sebastian was so hung on up on how Oliver was acting that anything he said that wasn’t to his liking, was going to feel like an attack, and Barry didn’t feel like fighting his friend right then.

“Well,” Barry began, trying to keep the same level of confidence Sebastian oozed; it was hard when he had never felt that confident before, “my team are working a case with a metahuman who can make people angry. Since you guys are here, why don’t we team up. You can help me find my super rage-a-holic, and I’ll help you find your guy.”

Felicity grinned at his proposal, and Barry couldn’t help smile back in response. Between her and Iris, they had to have the two most infectious smiles known to man. “We’d love to,” she answered for the others.

Something Oliver clearly wasn’t very happy about, if the gritting of his teeth was anything to go by. “Enough people know my secret identity,” he muttered.

The blonde waved her hand as if it were no big deal. In the back of his mind, Barry could hear Sebastian muttering about her having a point. He didn’t see why Oliver was so secretive about who knew he was the Arrow. He was more than comfortable with his friends and family knowing the truth. Sebastian thought Oliver was just being paranoid.

“Fine,” she stated. “I’ll go. They already know who I am.”

She walked away from them before they had chance to argue. As Barry followed her, he felt comfortable enough to let Sebastian out, without worrying that he was going to say something they were going to regret.

As soon as he was unsuppressed, Sebastian grinned and jogged after the blonde, overtaking her easily. “I’ll give you a lift.” 

He had scooped her up and set off in the direction of STAR labs before Felicity could even register that he had done anything.

***

To say that Barry had been surprised to get a text from Oliver, asking to meet at Jitters, would have been an understatement. After the way the archer had acted toward him the night before, even Sebastian had been positive that whatever friendship they’d had was over.

Barry didn’t know what they’d done wrong in Oliver’s eyes, but there was something different about how he was treating them now in comparison to before.

 _“It’s because we do things differently to him,”_ Sebastian grumbled, pulling the door to Jitters open. Even he seemed disillusioned by Oliver not acting worthy of the pedestal Sebastian had placed him on.

“Hey,” Barry greeted, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he stepped up to the table where Felicity and Oliver were waiting for him.

A briefest smile tugged at Oliver’s lips in greeting, but otherwise his face remained stoic as he stated, “The bad guy you’re looking for, the one who robbed the bank, his name is Roy G Bivolo.” As he spoke the words, he looked directly into Barry’s eyes and for a moment, he could have sworn that Sebastian actually swooned.

 _“Tell anyone that and I will find a way to kill you,”_ Sebastian threatened.

“How did you find that out?” Barry asked in surprise. “The guy’s still alive, right?” Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “Just checking.” After Joe and Wells’s intervention earlier, Barry was so terrified that Oliver was going to do something which would prove them right - that the Arrow was nothing more than the same cold blooded killer he had been when he was known only as the Hood.

“I thought you didn’t want to help,” Sebastian accused sullenly while Barry was distracted with thoughts of what the others had said.

Oliver shook his head a little. “It’s just a name.”

Iris chose that moment to appear with drinks, placing them on the table in front of the Starling city pair. Even the blind man who lived down the corridor from Barry would have been able to tell that she was flat-out flirting with Oliver as she handed him his drink. Hell, she even leant forward, making sure to flash a bit of cleavage as she did.

Without a word of warning, she grabbed Barry by the arm and pulled him away from Felicity and Oliver. When they were a suitable distance away, Iris punched him in the arm.

“Ow!” Sebastian exclaimed. “What was that for?” he demanded, rubbing at the sore spot on his arm. For someone who was so much shorter than him, Iris sure knew how to throw a punch.

“You didn’t tell me you know Oliver Queen!” she hissed, throwing a look at Oliver and Felicity over her shoulder and letting out a dreamy sigh.

Sebastian smirked, knowing exactly what thoughts were running through his friend’s head. They were same as the ones that usually ran through his own whenever he thought about Oliver. “I know Oliver Queen.”

This time it was Iris who swooned. “Oh my god, he’s even more handsome in public. Did you see the size of his arms, Seb? They’re, like twice the size of yours.” The alter ego wasn’t about to argue; how could he, when he felt the same way? “He’s been on my three list for years,” Iris added.

“Me too,” Sebastian admitted with a chuckle. Back when Oliver had been in the news almost every week - back when he was beating up paparazzi instead of criminals - Sebastian had bumped Johnny Depp from the list and replaced him with Starling City’s very own bad boy.

Which was probably why Barry had thought it a good idea to keep him away from Oliver at first, Sebastian thought to himself.

 _“Nice to know you’re finally agreeing with me,”_ Barry chuckled to himself.

Another waitress yelled Iris’s name from behind the counter and she was forced to return to work. With timing that made Barry wonder if he’d done it intentionally, as soon as they were alone, Oliver stepped up to him.

“Okay.” Barry frowned deeply, trying to decipher what the other man was talking about, but nothing was coming to mind. “We’ll help you catch your bad guy.”

An excited grin spread across Barry’s face and he couldn’t help correct, “Metahuman.”

Oliver’s jaw twitched as he gritted his teeth. “I’m not calling them that, Barry.” He held his hand out to Barry. “Partners?”

The shock of skin on skin as Barry shook his hand wasn’t much, but it was enough to make Sebastian vow that he was going to feel what the rest of the archer’s body felt like. Even if it killed him.

Which it might.

***

Maybe Oliver had a point.

While Sebastian had only grudgingly accepted that they needed to help people, he did have a habit of running into most situations blind. In the past, his cockiness about certain situations had been useful - it gave him an air of confidence that helped him (and by extension, Barry) succeed in life - it also meant that he sometimes did things without thinking about the consequences.

Which certainly explained why Sebastian had ended up with two arrows in his back, courtesy of the Starling City vigilante.

When an alert popped up on the computer about Bivolo's location, Sebastian was firm in his decision that he was going after the meta alone. He didn't need anyone's help, no matter how much Barry liked to insist he did.

“Barry, I think you should wait for the Arrow,” Felicity tried to reason with him, stepping between Sebastian and the suit.

Sebastian wasn’t interested in listening to reason, though. If someone he had thought of as a friend was willing to literally shoot him in the back, he didn't care how hot Oliver was; he was better off alone. “Felicity, I don’t need his help.”

The speedster ducked around Felicity and in the blink of an eye, changed into his suit and left before any of them had chance to stop him.

In his mind, he could hear Barry complaining that it wasn’t fair to treat Felicity like she was the bad guy, but Sebastian didn’t stop running. He would apologise to Felicity for being a dick later. The primary was right; Oliver was the one he was really pissed at, not her.

The building Sebastian arrived at was empty and it wasn’t difficult to vibrate the lock until it fell away and the door slowly swung open. Inside the previously locked room, were a ton of art supplies and creepy ass paintings, but no Bivolo.

“I knew you’d be coming for me.” Bivolo’s voice seemed to echo around the room, and Sebastian spun wildly around, trying to see where the metahuman was. “I saw it in your eyes at the bank. When I turned those people against each other, it made you angry.”

Sebastian snarled as Bivolo came into view and rushed at him, grabbing him by the lapels and pinning him up against the wall. Bivolo didn’t seem phased by another meta attacking him; if anything, he seemed amused.

“Have some real anger,” Bivolo instructed, pulling the sunglasses he had been wearing from his face and looking into Sebastian’s eyes.

***

Sebastian was freaking out, and that wasn’t something that happened often.

At first, after the encounter with Bivolo, everything had seemed the same; whatever the other meta had tried to do had clearly failed.

Then, halfway through the eye exam with Caitlin, Sebastian had started to feel… weird. If pressed, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to explain what it was like, but all of a sudden he started to feel dizzy, like he was going to pass out.

He tried to tell Barry that he didn’t feel too hot, but it was like his mental voice had been silenced somehow. He couldn’t find the thought processes that would allow him to string together a sentence that was aimed at Barry.

At first he had thought that Barry was suppressing him again, but this was different. Sebastian had only been suppressed fully - to the point where Barry could no longer hear his voice - a handful of times in the last fifteen years. But even, when Sebastian had spoken, the alter ego had still been able to hear his own voice.

This time, there was nothing in his mind. He couldn’t even hear Barry’s thoughts. Everything was silent.

Whatever Bivolo had done, had managed to silence him for the first time in his life.

Even worse was that Barry seemed completely oblivious to the lack of Sebastian’s presence in his mind. 

***

The sound of someone yelling in the reception got Joe’s attention, and he frowned, trying to listen to what was being said.

“Look, I work just as hard as anyone in this building. I don’t need you constantly berating me to do my job.”

Joe’s eyes widened when he realised that it was Sebastian’s voice he could hear, yelling at someone. “Shit,” he swore when he realised there was only one person in the building who could irritate the alter ego enough that he would finally snap. Singh.

Sebastian was going to lose Barry’s job if he wasn’t careful, or if Joe didn’t so something to stop him. Jumping to his feet, the police officer ran into the foyer just in time to see Sebastian step closer to the Captain, getting into Singh’s face.

“Sorry, Captain,” Joe mumbled, rushing over to them and pushing Sebastian back a step. He had no idea what was making his son act so irrationally, but he needed to do something about it, fast. “He’s having an allergic reaction to some… bad medication.”

Singh wasn’t happy with Sebastian, that much was obvious, but to Joe’s relief, he took a step back. Apparently, he realised that whatever was going on was a family thing, and only Joe was going to be able to talk some sense into the young CSI. “You need to remind him who answers to who,” Singh told Joe, before storming away from them.

As soon as they were alone, it was Joe’s turn to take a shot at Sebastian. “Have you lost your mind?”

Sebastian’s lip curled in disgust. “I am so sick of Singh talking to me like that.”

It was an old complaint; Sebastian had always managed to get on the wrong side of the police captain and he’d always thought that Singh targeted him intentionally. But now wasn’t the time to be having the same argument. “He’s still our boss,” Joe reminded him. “I know you’re upset about losing Bivolo…”

Sebastian groaned in irritation and ran a hand over his face. “This isn’t…” He broke off, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Joe. “You’re just like him. Like Wells and Oliver. And every other person in my life that didn’t think I could get the job done!”

The words stung Joe a little, but he tried to not let them show. He didn’t think he had done anything that would imply neither Barry nor Sebastian could do whatever they set their minds to.

Sebastian, however, wasn’t finished. “Do you want to help me, Joe? Get my dad out of prison; you put him there.”

It wasn’t the first time, Sebastian had pointed out that Joe was the one who had arrested Henry. Usually it cropped up when they were already arguing about something else - like Sebastian getting drunk at fourteen, or sneaking in after curfew.

“Sebastian, listen to me,” Joe tried to reason, reaching out to put a hand on the younger man’s arm.

Before he could make contact, the arm was pulled from beyond his reach so fast that Joe couldn’t accurately say that there hadn’t been super speed involved.

“I’m _not_ Sebastian,” Barry hissed, his eyes flashing red before using his super speed to leave the precinct, and a stunned Joe, behind.

***

“Barry’s been whammied,” Joe stated on arriving at STAR labs. “He was acting angry. It was scary. And his eyes… they glowed.”

Caitlin hummed in thought. “It’s possible that his body is fighting off the effect, so it’s hitting him slower,” she theorised.

Joe didn’t respond. He was too busy thinking over what she had said and what he had seen at the precinct. He could have sworn it had been Sebastian yelling at Singh; it had never even occurred to him that Barry could have been the one in control.

He had always thought of Barry as his sweet, polite, almost-perfect little kid. When Iris had been going through her rebellious teenager phase, Barry had been the one who wasn’t ashamed to sit and watch Saturday evening tv with his old man.

Sebastian had been the rebellious member of the family. The one with the self-righteous attitude who had been positive the world was out to get him.

Seeing Barry acting so much like his alter ego scared Joe more than he had ever thought possible.

Joe frowned to himself at that thought. If Barry was acting like Sebastian, then maybe the other personality hadn’t actually been affected by whatever it was that Bivolo had done to him.

He pursed his lips in thought as he surveyed the room. Joe wasn’t stupid; he knew that he wouldn’t be able to take Barry on alone, especially not when he was raging. But he also knew that he couldn’t ask the other’s for their help without telling them the truth.

Barry wasn’t going to be happy when he found out that his friends knew about Sebastian, but at that point Joe was pretty sure he was out of options. 

“I have an idea of how we can get Barry back,” Joe stated softly, drawing surprised looks from the others. "But it's going to be complicated."

Wells was looking at him curiously, but instead of addressing him, he turned to Felicity. “I think you had better call back Oliver Queen,” he suggested. “We’re going to need the Arrow’s help.”

***

It didn’t take long for Oliver to arrive at STAR labs, and after quick introductions - the tensest had been between him and Wells - it was back to business and the mess that currently was Bartholomew Sebastian Allen.

Time for Joe to take centre stage.

“Barry hasn’t been completely honest with you all,” Joe began. “Before you all start to blame him and think any less of him, hear me out. You’ll understand why, I promise you.” There were confused murmurs all around, but no one interrupted. “Before Nora was killed, Barry seemed like just another normal kid. Happiest when he was playing with Iris, even when they were getting in trouble. There was nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary."

“When Nora died and Barry moved in with us, again, everything seemed ordinary. Sure, he didn’t have the same level of energy he’d had before, but he was suffering a trauma so we kinda expected it. What we didn’t expect was Sebastian.”

Cisco frowned. “Who is Sebastian?” he asked.

“It’s Barry’s middle name,” Wells answered for Joe. The police detective wasn’t surprised that Wells knew that; he was still sure there was something off about the scientist. As far as Joe was concerned, Wells seemed a little  _too_ interested in the speedster.

Choosing to focus on the task at hand, and not his distrust of Wells, Joe nodded his head. “It’s more than just his middle name. At first, I didn’t think there was anything out of the ordinary. He started talking to himself and then answering in a completely different voice. Sometimes it felt like he was rehearsing a one-show play.”

“Barry developed a second personality,” Wells stated. He didn’t seem shocked by the revelation; if anything, he seemed like he knew exactly what Joe was going to say before he’d said the words.

“Back then, the doctors were pretty much still learning about mental disorders, and they called it Secondary Personality Disorder,” Joe confirmed with a nod of his head. “Barry is the Primary, and Sebastian is the alter ego. Sebastian is just as strong as Barry and is capable of taking control of their body, but only if Barry allows it. If Barry truly doesn’t want Sebastian to do something, there’s no way he’d be able to do it. But he has to really want to silence him.”

Joe looked around the room, trying to gauge how the other’s felt about his revelation. Like before, Wells didn’t seem surprised. Felicity looked like she was going to be sick with worry. The Arrow - Oliver - was wearing an expression which was completely impossible to read. Cisco was grinning like a child on Christmas morning; Joe could already imagine the trouble he and Sebastian were going to get up to once this was over. Caitlin was worrying her lower lip with her teeth, and even from across the room, Joe could practically hear the cogs whirring in her mind.

“You said he started talking to himself,” the doctor was the first to speak. Joe nodded his head, waiting for her to continue. “Can Barry interact with the secondary personality all the time?”

He didn’t know why, but there was something in Caitlin’s voice that really irritated Joe and he couldn’t help getting defensive on his son’s behalf. He wasn’t sure if was the fear that she was going to treat Barry like a test subject, or the fact that she was talking about Sebastian as though he wasn’t an actual person.

“His name is Sebastian,” Joe stated harsher than he meant to, drawing a surprised look from Caitlin. “He’s not just a ‘secondary personality’ anymore. When Barry was a kid and the second voice started becoming more of a permanent resident, Barry decided he needed to name him. He didn’t want to choose a name that wasn’t already him, so the second personality started going by Barry’s middle name. Sebastian. Over the years, Sebastian’s became as much a part of the family as Barry is.”

Joe paused, taking a breath and getting down from his soap box. It wasn’t Caitlin’s fault that they were finding out about Sebastian like this. He knew that, and he knew it wasn’t fair to take his fear and uselessness out on her.

“To answer your question, Barry can talk to Sebastian as much or as little as he wants. You’ve probably noticed that he has this habit of staring into space?” The rest of them nodded which didn’t surprise Joe; Barry wasn’t as good at hiding his conversations with Sebastian as he liked to think. “That’s him talking to Sebastian. Sometimes they talk out loud, but when they’re in public or want to keep whatever it is secret, they speak in their mind. It’s like…” 

He sighed, trying to remember how Barry had explained it to him years ago. “It’s like there are two people living inside one body. They’re each capable of feeling different emotions, and have minds of their own, but they can also feel what the other is feeling or thinking. They might as well be two completely different people.”

“If there’s ever a situation where the rest of us would be feeling even a little bit nervous, Sebastian takes over and helps Barry get through it. Seb may be the secondary personality, but he is much more outwardly dominant than Barry ever could be,” Joe explained. “Barry thinks that Sebastian is braver than he is, but I don’t think he gives himself enough credit. Ever since he woke from the coma - since he got superpowers - his confidence has skyrocketed. I think the list of things that scare Barry has reduced significantly.”

From across the room, Felicity whispered, “But Sebastian is still around. It sounds like you might be right about them being more two people than one.”

Joe nodded in agreement. He had always wondered what had created Sebastian, and the particle accelerator explosion had made him wonder if maybe metahuman existed long before Harrison Wells arrived in town. Maybe Barry and Sebastian had always meant to exist the way they did.

“Unless he’s been talking about science, chances are that you've been talking to Sebastian more than you have Barry,” Joe said. 

This time it was Oliver who spoke. “What makes science different from everything else?” he asked. There was no judgement in his voice; just a stillness that managed to make Joe feel calmer. Despite what he had said earlier to Barry, he was glad that the vigilante was on their side. He could see why Sebastian was so infatuated with the billionaire.

“Sebastian _hates_ it. It bores him to death; always has done. When Barry is talking about, or doing science, he’ll always be the one who’s in charge.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Felicity asked from where she was standing next to Oliver. “Barry can’t want us to know, otherwise he would have told us personally. He’s not going to be happy.”

Joe sighed and let his head fall forward. “You’re right,” he agreed. “But, you didn’t see Barry at the precinct. He wasn’t acting like himself… He was acting like Sebastian so much that I thought it was him. Whatever Bivolo did to him, if we don’t stop him soon, I have a feeling Barry’s going to do something he’s going to regret when he’s back to normal.”

He looked around, meeting the eyes of each of them as he did. “I think I have an idea about how we can get Barry back, but it's going to take all of us - as well as Sebastian.”

***

Oliver shifted his bow in his hands. “I still don’t see how this is going to work,” he muttered to himself.

Felicity’s voice coming through his earpiece made him jump; he’d forgotten he was wearing a headset. “If Joe’s right and Barry is the only one who’s been affected by… prism… you should be able to bring Sebastian to the front enough to help Barry fight off whatever this is.”

That was the bit Oliver understood. It was what they were supposed to do when that didn’t happen that he was worried about. Contrary to what Felicity liked to say, he wasn’t being paranoid; he just didn’t trust any plans since they rarely seemed to go their way.

“I’ve got him,” Felicity’s voice stated in his ear. “He’s right around the corner from you.”

Oliver didn’t waste any time, he revved the engine of his motorcycle and sped in the direction Felicity had instructed. Sure enough when he got there, Barry was standing over someone, in his full Flash costume.

“Oliver,” Caitlin’s voice spoke over the same line Felicity had been using. “That’s Detective Thawne; Iris’s boyfriend. Barry told us earlier that he’s started a task force to catch the Flash.”

Well, that certainly explained why an irate Barry was going after him, Oliver thought, reaching back and grabbing an arrow. He had felt the same way when he found out the SCPD had started an anti-vigilante task force.

The arrow he fired at Barry was one of his trick ones, and it wrapped thick cords around the speedster, knocking him to the ground with the force of the hit. 

“Run!” Oliver instructed to Thawne, who was more than happy to oblige, which Oliver was grateful for. He knew Barry would never forgive himself if there were any casualties that night. Thankfully there was no-one else around.

Barry got to his feet and, even though they were far apart, Oliver could see him smirking.

“You need to calm down,” the archer tried to reason with Barry, but to no avail.

The smirk grew and Barry retorted. “And you need to hold on.”

Oliver barely had chance to register what had been said, before he was wrenched off his feet and dragged through the street. Underneath his body, he could feel the road and he had never been more grateful that the suit he was wearing as made of thick leather. He would have a serious case of road rash if not.

They skidded to a stop and Oliver grabbed another arrow, not giving Barry a chance to do something else stupid. He fired at the wall behind the younger man, an action which made Barry laugh. “You missed,” he taunted.

The words were barely out of his mouth before the wall behind him exploded, sending Barry to the ground with a crash. Again, Oliver didn’t give Barry time to recover from the onslaught before firing a second arrow at him. This one aimed with enough tranquiliser to knock out a small army.

Oliver watched with half-fascination, half-irritation as Barry pulled the arrow from his skin and vibrated his body. The tranquiliser he had dosed him with practically evaporated from his body. 

Okay, so maybe plan A wasn’t going to work. It was a good job Oliver had a plan B as well.

Hand to hand combat was generally more effective, anyway.

Fighting someone with Barry’s speed was trickier than Oliver had originally anticipated, and it took Oliver suffering a few falls and punches, before he could land blows of his own. When Barry threw a punch in his direction and Oliver managed to catch it, he knew he still stood a chance at fixing what was going on with the metahuman.

Using Barry’s obvious surprise at his punch being caught, Oliver spun Barry around so he was facing down the alley. Barry tried to fight him, clearly not ready to give up the fight, but Oliver tightened his arm around Barry’s neck, making sure to keep the pressure just right. He didn’t want to kill one of the few people he actually considered to be a friend, after all.

He could feel Barry continuing to struggle against him, but he ignored the red-suited man. Instead he pulled him closer to Oliver’s chest, so they were pressed against each other completely. He really hoped Joe was right, otherwise they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

“This isn’t you, Barry,” Oliver murmured in the younger man’s ear.

In his arms, Barry snarled and continued struggling against him. “How would you know what I’m like, _Ollie_?” he mocked. “You think I’m weak because I’m not ruthless like you, because I’m not a killer like you. How could you possibly know what I’m like when you don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself.”

Even though he knew that the words weren’t really Barry, they were the hex he was under, they still stung a little, no matter how hard Oliver tried to focus on the task at hand. Damn the other man for being able to get under his skin.

Instead of responding to Barry, Oliver pressed his lips to the other man’s ear and whispered, “Sebastian.” The reaction was instantaneous. Immediately, Barry went rigid in his arms, and Oliver couldn’t help but be surprised that this was actually working. “I know you’re in there, Sebastian. I need your help. Barry’s in trouble.”

At the sound of his name, Barry began struggling again. A dark laugh ripped through the other man; it was a sound Oliver vowed to make sure he never heard again. Barry sounded evil. “Sorry, Ollie. Seb’s a bit busy at the minute.” 

“Sebastian, please,” Oliver continued, pleading with the alter ego he hoped Joe was right about still being inside the other man. “We need you.” He paused for a second, before deciding to chance his luck. “I need you.”

The change was almost instantaneous. Barry went limp in his arms, before he straightened up again. This time, it was obvious he wasn't speaking to Barry; there was a cocky-confidence even in the way he was holding himself that made Oliver wonder how none of them had spotted the difference before. Sebastian really was a completely different person to Barry. 

“You know," even the way he spoke was different, Oliver realised, "all the times I’ve imagined you plastered against my back, I never pictured you with your arm around my throat.” The hand on Oliver's arm shifted, and the archer could have sworn Sebastian had just  _caressed_ him.

Oliver’s eyes widened a fraction at the remark, but he otherwise didn't respond. He didn’t even react when Sebastian pressed his ass back against Oliver’s leather clad crotch. At least he hoped to whatever god might be listening that he didn’t press back. That would be a complication they really didn't have time for right then.

"Sebastian," he said, trying to focus on the task at hand and not the fact that Sebastian was rubbing against him deliciously, "we think we have a way to help Barry, but we need your help." As he paused, waiting for Sebastian to nod in agreement, Oliver tried to remember everything Joe had told him. He couldn't pretend he understood most of it, but he had to trust that Joe was right.

"You need to force Barry back to the front of your mind, and keep him there," Oliver explained. Sebastian shook his head, but before he could argue, Oliver continued, "He's not stronger than you, Sebastian. You're both as capable as each other. You can stop him from doing anything. I have faith in you."

The alter ego continued shaking his head. "I can't," he whispered.

Oliver squeezed the other man's shoulder gently. "Yes, you can. Barry needs you to be strong for him."

Sebastian took a deep breath, before his demeanour changed. This time, Oliver knew what was happening; Barry was back at the front of their mind. 

They needed to act, and they needed to act fast. “Now,” Oliver ordered, not to Sebastian or Barry, but to whoever was listening in his ear.

A truck swung into sight and the back doors slid open, revealing a machine that Wells and Cisco had hooked up. Oliver wasn’t going to pretend he understood what the scientists hoped the machine would do, but if it worked like they thought, that was all he needed to know.

A series of lights flashed before his and Barry’s eyes, and Oliver immediately regretted not looking away. He was going to see spots in his vision for days, he just knew it.

In his arms, he could feel Barry slowly stop resisting, before he slumped back as the lights stopped flashing. If it weren’t for the fact that Oliver was still holding him, he would have definitely fallen to the floor.

Barry groaned, righting himself and clutching at his head. Oliver felt himself relax, even if it was only a little. This person was completely different from the one he had been fighting with earlier. 

It had worked. Joe had been right. He was back to normal. Or at least, whatever normal meant for Barry Allen.

***

Barry had locked himself in his apartment as soon as he had been cleared to leave STAR labs. He couldn’t stand how Caitlin and Cisco were looking at him - like he was a freak. Hell, even Doctor Wells had been looking at him differently.

He wasn’t mad that Joe had made the decision to tell them the truth about Sebastian - that decision had saved his life, after all - but their judgement brought back the same feelings he’d had as a child and he didn’t like it.

“They weren’t judging you,” Sebastian pointed out, grabbing a CD from the rack by the wall and sliding the disc into the player. It wasn’t one of his, but Barry needed to calm down, and music was one of the easiest ways to do that. Sebastian was just going to have to suffer through a few songs; really he was taking one for the team.

Apparently Barry wasn’t feeling very much like listening to anything - reason or music. He flicked the player off with a scowl. “Yes, they were,” he argued, beginning to pace the room. “This is exactly why I didn’t want anyone else to know about this. Now they know I’m nothing more than a freak with a disability.”

Sebastian snarled and forced Barry to come to a standstill. “Don’t you dare say that,” he ordered. Sebastian crossed the apartment, heading for the bathroom; sometimes it was easier to have a conversation with the primary when he could see his reflection. “You do not have a disability.”

Barry scoffed, but didn’t argue with Sebastian, which was lucky for him because the alter ego hadn’t finished. “Are you forgetting that whenever you insult yourself, you insult me too?” he snapped.

Green eyes widened and Barry shook his head. “Seb… I didn’t…”

“Save it, Barry,” Sebastian ordered. “I know you don’t like having me around… I can feel what you can, remember?” he challenged when he felt Barry start to argue. “But I am here, and there’s nothing either of us can do about it, okay? The next time you insult me like that, I’m going to suppress _myself_ , and you’ll have to deal with everything you’re afraid of on your own. Capiche?”

Barry swallowed with fear and he shook his head. “You… you wouldn’t,” he stammered, even though he knew that Sebastian would do exactly what he was promising. “I’m sorry,” he eventually whispered, looking away from his reflection and lowering his head. 

Sebastian sighed and made Barry look up at him. “I wish we were as normal as you’d like, Barry,” he said softly. “But I think you need to start accepting that this is the way we are, and nothing is going to change that.” He could feel Barry’s fear inside him and knew that it was going to be a pointless conversation. Barry was too afraid of what other people thought about him; he always had been, and Sebastian had a feeling he was always going to be.

“Why don’t we go to Jitters and say goodbye to Felicity and Oliver?” Sebastian suggested gently. He knew that letting Barry hole them up in the apartment wasn’t going to be good for either of them.

“No!” Barry exclaimed, shaking his head. “I can’t face them. Not after what I did.” He paused, biting his lip before adding, “You can, though.”

***

Jitters was crowded when Felicity and Oliver arrived on their way back to Starling City. Oliver had wanted to split immediately after making sure Barry and Sebastian were back to normal, but Felicity had insisted that they needed to at least make use of the amazing showers their hotel rooms offered, and they had found themselves staying another night.

Barry looked up from the empty table in front of him when he sensed someone’s on him. It took a second, before a brilliant grin spread across his face, and he beckoned the pair of them closer.

Felicity placed a hand on Oliver’s back. “I’m going to get us some drinks,” she told him, not so subtly pushing Oliver in the direction of Barry.

As he got closer, Oliver tried to scan the other man’s face for signs of what Joe had been talking about the day before. He must not have been around Barry often enough, because he couldn’t see anything different to the insane CSI he had met in Starling City over a year before.

“Barry?” he asked tentatively, sliding into the seat opposite him.

The brunet shook his head, a smirk appearing on his face. A smirk which suddenly make him look a lot less like the Barry Allen, Oliver had thought he knew. “Sebastian,” he corrected the vigilante with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

Something inside Oliver clenched at the thought that he would get used to being able to tell which version of Barry he was talking to, but he pushed that to the side. The closer he looked at the other man, the more he could see the differences between Barry and Sebastian. Where Barry seemed more than content to slip into the background in a large crowd, the man who was sitting opposite him clearly loved to be the centre of attention.

“Look, I…” Barry - Sebastian - shifted in his seat, suddenly looking uncomfortable; a mannerism which had to be out of character for the alter ego. “I don’t do this very often - the mushy stuff is usually all Barry - but I wanted to say thank you for what you did last night.”

Oliver never thought he would appreciate his time on Lian Yu, but when he didn’t feel his cheeks glowing with embarrassment, he knew that there was a first for everything. “I didn’t do anything the other’s wouldn’t have done,” he said, trying to dismiss the praise he in no means warranted.

Sebastian, however was having none of Oliver’s dismissals. “I mean it,” he insisted. “What you did; going against Barry when he was in full on hulk mode. That was pretty ballsy of you; especially when you only had a bow and arrow.”

A chuckle pulled itself from Oliver’s throat, almost of its own accord. “I’ll have you know, I’m pretty good with that bow and arrow.”

Sebastian flashed a brilliant grin in response. “So I’ve seen,” he agreed. “Anyway, what you did meant a lot to me - to us,” he added, offering Oliver a wry smile.

Oliver worried his lower lip with his teeth for a second, before asking, “Is Barry…” He cut himself off, trying to work out how to phrase what he wanted to say. “Can I talk to Barry?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound as stupid as he felt.

A regretful look crossed over Sebastian’s face and Oliver immediately started to freak out. He should have known he was crossing some kind of line asking to speak to Barry. Before he got too far into his self pity, Sebastian interrupted him. “He’s kinda refusing to come out for anyone.” Oliver frowned and raised a questioning eyebrow. “He’s too embarrassed.”

“About you?”

Sebastian scoffed. “Please, he got over being embarrassed by me years ago. He’s embarrassed about the way he acted last night.”

“He was under a metahuman spell!” Oliver protested, making Sebastian shrug his shoulders helplessly in response. “Can he hear me now?” Sebastian nodded, and Oliver leant forward, grabbing hold of Sebastian’s hand before he could move it away. “Barry,” he whispered, “you have nothing to be ashamed of. Any one of us would have behaved the same way if we’d been hit by Bivolo.”

A soft smile curled at the corner of Sebastian’s lips and he made no effort to move away from the other man’s touch. “He’s blushing right now,” he informed Oliver. “Well, he would if he were in control,” Sebastian added, the smile transforming into a smirk just as Felicity returned to them.

“Are you ready to go?” Felicity asked. Oliver nodded his head, moving his hand away from Sebastian’s arm as he got to his feet. “I suppose asking you to stay out of trouble is too much to hope for?” she asked Sebastian.

Sebastian laughed. “I imagine it would be kinda like asking him,” he jerked his head in the direction of Oliver, “to keep his nose clean.”

Oliver pouted at his words, but he couldn’t really argue; it was true, after all. “If you need anything — either of you — just give me a call,” he ordered, making Sebastian grin in response.

“Careful, I might actually take you up on that,” Sebastian cautioned, and Oliver wasn’t sure if was imaging the double entendre in his voice, or not.

Slowly Oliver moved around the table, leaning in close so he could whisper in Sebastian’s ear. “See you around, Sebastian,” he whispered, his lips brushing against the other man’s skin as he spoke. “You too, Barry.”

It would have been impossible to see had Oliver not been as close as he was, but Sebastian shivered at the proximity, and in a moment of recklessness, Oliver couldn’t resist dropping his hand onto the other’s denim clad thigh, and squeezing gently.

Then he and Felicity were on their way, leaving behind a speechless Sebastian in their wake.

***

Iris felt like she had had her entire world shaken. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

From across the room, Sebastian smirked and continued getting changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Oliver Queen felt me up,” he repeated, ruffling his hair with one hand and grabbing his beer with the other.

“That’s the part I’m having trouble with,” Iris retorted, moving over on the bed when Sebastian got closer. As he got comfortable under the covers, Iris grabbed the remote control for the DVD player. “Oliver’s notorious for being a lady’s man.”

Sebastian grinned and settled back against the pillows. “Apparently he’s not as straight as he’s let people think.” Iris raised an eyebrow. “His hand was definitely on my thigh, practically touching my cock.” He paused for a second, before adding, “He said goodbye to Barry and actually pressed his lips against my ear.”

Iris squealed and nudged him with her elbow. “Oh my god, he practically _kissed_ you.”

The other laughed. “Maybe I should convince Barry to let us take a trip to Starling City; see if we can make the almost kiss a real one.”

“Would you do it?” Iris asked, grabbing a slice of pizza and taking a bite. “Sleep with him, if he offered.” She paused, before rolling her eyes. “What am I talking about? Of course you would.”

Sebastian laughed and nodded his head in agreement. “There’s no way in hell I’d ever say no to the Oliver Queen experience.” Iris merely laughed in response. “Until then, I’ll simply have to settle for the wannabes that Central City have to offer.” He scowled. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that the gay prospects of the city have improved since I got struck by lightning.”

Iris snorted. “Since we haven’t been to a club together in months, how would I know?” she pointed out. “What happened to you, anyway? We used to go out every Friday night. I don’t think you’ve been out once since you woke up.” Sebastian almost corrected her, but then he remembered that she didn’t know about the Vertigo incident.

“Stop it,” Sebastian scolded. “Pizza and movie nights are not supposed to get serious.” Iris fixed him with a glare and he sighed heavily. “Fine. You know Barry doesn’t like going out at the best of times, and the last few times I’ve wanted to go get laid, something had either come up, or he’s taken control and we’ve spent the night watching stupid nature documentaries.”

Concern washed over Iris’s face. “That can’t be healthy,” she mused, before brightening up significantly. “We should go out this weekend. There are bound to be some hot guys who wouldn’t say no to these abs you apparently grew while you were in a coma.” She reached out and pulled his t-shirt up, poking his abs with her index finger. “Why can’t I get a body like this without lifting a finger?” she whined, a pout forming.

Sebastian laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “All you need to do is get struck by lightning and spend almost a year in a coma. Easiest exercise regime in the world. Providing you don’t die, of course.”

***


	8. Power Outage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an encounter with a metahuman has unforeseen consequences for the Flash, Sebastian is forced to chose between a normal life and being a superhero.
> 
> ***

Doctor Harrison Wells made his way through the STAR labs building. It was empty, Caitlin and Cisco having already headed home for the night, but that didn’t mean he could let his guard down.

He had to keep up the facade of being confined to the chair. His getting home relied on getting his speed back, and he couldn’t do anything that would jeopardise that.

Coming to a stop in front of one particular part of the building, he glanced around once more - one could never be too careful - and reached up, pressing his hand against a hidden panel in the wall.

When he had set about building STAR labs, he had made sure to build a few things which weren’t detailed on the blueprints. A second room, using technology from the future, was only one of those things.

Once inside, he gave up pretence completely and stood up from the chair, removing the glasses he wore as he did so. He hated that he had to wear them and more than once had considered discarding them with an excuse of having had laser surgery, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it for some reason.

Maybe there was more of the real Harrison Wells left than he’d initially thought.

He crossed the small space and pressed his hand against the circular disc in front of him. Immediately, a computer generated face appeared in front of him, and he immediately began to feel better. It was nice to experience some comforts from home every once in awhile.

“Good day, Doctor Wells.”

A smile spread across his face. “One can always hope, Gideon. Bring up my log, would you?”

It took less than a minute for the computer to access the log he had been updating on an almost daily basis since he’d arrived back in 2000. 

He instructed Gideon to start recording a new entry, and when prompted, he began to speak.

“It has now been 318 days since lightning struck, and one week since Bivolo attacked. The truth about the alter ego is now out, making his removal more complicated. Complicated, but still not impossible.”

He flicked to the future newspaper he had brought with him. Nothing had changed.

_ Flash vanishes. Missing in crisis. _

Scrolling idly through the past entries, Harrison quickly found himself lost in thought. He had always known that Sebastian Allen’s presence would cause him problems, he just hadn’t anticipated other’s knowing about him as well.

Now, he’d missed his chance to wipe Sebastian from existence without raising the suspicions of others. He was going to have to get creative and figure out a way to remove the alter ego without being too obvious.

“There is still time to formulate a plan, factoring in everyone knowing. The future remains intact.”

***

For almost a week Barry had been avoiding his friends at STAR labs. Sebastian had been trying to convince him to go see them, face up to what had happened with Bivolo and to let them start getting used to knowing about Sebastian.

By the sixth day, Sebastian had reached the end of his not-very long patience, and decided it was time to do something. If Barry wasn’t going to do something, he would do it himself.

When they had faced Bivolo, Oliver had managed to talk through whatever shroud had been placed over Sebastian, and the archer had been able to convince Sebastian that he was strong enough to take on Barry and be the one in control, even though the primary didn’t want him to.

To do it again, all he needed was to concentrate and Sebastian would be able to overpower Barry and take control, even if the primary didn’t want him to.

Stepping through the doors into STAR labs, in complete control of their body and knowing that Barry wasn’t happy about it was a surreal experience for Sebastian. Not to mention, something he knew he could totally get used to.

“ _ Don’t get any ideas,”  _ Barry’s voice echoed in his mind.  _ “As soon as this is over, we’re going back home and I’m not leaving, no matter what you say.” _

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother arguing with Barry. Sometimes he really did think that Barry forgot the alter ego could feel everything he could. Sebastian knew exactly how Barry felt about being a superhero, and how much not being in contact with their friends was hurting the speedster.

Caitlin was sitting at her desk in the cortex, with her back to him as he stepped through the doors. Across the room, he could see Cisco working away in the lab, oblivious to anything else. Neither of them had noticed his arrival. Wells was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, guys,” Sebastian said softly, stepping further into the cortex.

Caitlin started in surprise and spun around. “Barry!” she exclaimed, before frowning and studying him closely. “Wait,” she corrected herself with a small shake of her head, “you’re Sebastian.”

Sebastian grinned widely and nodded his head. He had no idea how she had figured out the difference between them so quickly - especially since he hadn’t been around since they’d found out, but Sebastian was glad she had taken the time to at least learn how to tell them apart. Inside, he could feel relief seeping through Barry at Caitlin’s reaction, and Sebastian had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop him from taunting the primary about being right all along.

“Sorry, I haven’t been around sooner,” he apologised. “I-,” He didn’t manage to get out more words before Caitlin got to her feet and threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly.

“You scared us,” she chided, releasing him after a moment and stepping back. “I was afraid you weren’t going to come back.”

Sebastian pulled a face. “Nah,” he retorted, with a wave of his hand, “nothing could keep me away from this place.”

Across the cortex, Cisco’s head snapped up at the sound of Sebastian’s voice. As soon as he registered that Sebastian had returned, the engineer jumped up and hustled into the cortex.

“Dude!” he exclaimed, holding his hands out to the side. “What’s with the no-communicado?” he demanded.

Sebastian sheepishly shrugged a shoulder. “Sorry, man,” he replied. “Just had some stuff I needed to deal with.”

Cisco shook his head, although there was a smile on his face. “Not cool, Seb. Not cool,” he muttered, clapping the alter ego on the back.

“ _ Told you so, _ ” Sebastian thought, aiming the words at Barry. 

“ _ There’s still Wells,”  _ Barry replied glumly, and Sebastian could feel the dread returning to his stomach again. 

“We were worried when you turned your phone off,” Caitlin spoke, pulling Sebastian’s attention away from their silent conversation. “Even Joe couldn’t get through to you.”

Sebastian smiled sheepishly. “Barry was adamant that he didn’t want to speak to anyone after what happened with Bivolo,” he explained. 

A look of surprise appeared on Caitlin’s face before she could fully cover it up. “Sorry,” Sebastian apologised, mostly for Barry’s sake than his own. He didn’t see why he should have to apologise for something he had no control over.

Caitlin shook her head, forcing her expression to change as she did so. “Don’t be,” she instructed. “Hearing you talk about Barry in the third person, is just going to take some getting used to, is all…”

She trailed off as her eyes drifted to something over Sebastian’s shoulder and the alter ego turned around, finding himself facing Doctor Harrison Wells. 

A Doctor Wells who was staring at Sebastian as though he were the cause of all the earth's problems, the speedster couldn’t help thinking. There was something in his eyes that made Sebastian feel uncomfortable, and he didn’t like it. Wells was clearly not happy that he had returned to STAR labs.

“Doctor Wells,” Sebastian greeted, trying to be as casual as he could and not really succeeding, he didn’t think.

Wells nodded once, entering the cortex fully. “Mr Allen,” he greeted coldly, moving past the metahuman to sit at the desk.

Sebastian glanced over at Cisco and Caitlin, who both shrugged their shoulders helplessly. “It’s been a long, complicated week,” Caitlin whispered, making the alter ego wonder what exactly he had missed when Barry hadn’t let him turn their phone on.

“Well, I’m back now,” he said, trying to be as confident as people would have expected from him, even though he had to admit (only to himself and Barry) that he wasn’t exactly feeling confident at that moment. “Any meta’s who attack the city will have to deal with the Flash now,” he added, trying to draw a smile out of the others, and only managing to get a grin from Cisco and a small smile from Caitlin.

Wells didn’t even look up from the computer. “It looks like you’ve gotten your wish, Mr Allen. The CCPD have just received a call about a suspicious death.”

***

Barry had taken control of their mind by the time they arrived at the crime scene. Even though it had only been because Sebastian had flat out refused to pretend to be Barry when it came to science.

Joe was already at the scene, talking with Eddie and another CSI when Barry arrived. The CSI must have the swing shift who had to have been covering for Barry while he had been on emergency leave, Barry thought, only just realising how much he had let everyone down while he had been hiding from his friends.

“Barry?” Joe asked in surprise as he turned around and almost walked into the younger man. “You’re here!”

Barry smiled bashfully. “Yeah,” he whispered, running a hand through his hair. Before he could say more, Joe placed a hand on his arm and pulled him away from Eddie and the CSI.

“Next time you start dodging calls and avoiding everyone, I will kill you,” Joe informed him, seconds before he pulled him into a hug. “Do you have any idea how much you had us all worried, kid?” he asked.

“I know,” Barry replied, hugging him back just as tight. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t… I needed time to deal with everyone knowing the truth about me.”

Joe frowned and squeezed Barry’s shoulder. “You know the guys at STAR labs are your friends and don’t care about Sebastian, right?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother wasting your energy, Joe,” he muttered. “He’s a stubborn bastard when he wants.”

The police officer laughed. “Yet another thing you have in common,” he retorted. He glanced around them, taking in the rest of the crime scene. “I take it that you’re ready to come back, since you’re actually here unasked for a change.”

Barry smiled and nodded his head. He hadn’t been worried that Joe would treat him differently - it wasn’t like he didn’t know about Sebastian - but he felt bad about leaving his father in the lurch with work. “I figured I couldn’t really dodge Singh for too much longer.”

Joe waved his hand, dismissing Barry’s worries. “Don’t worry about, Singh,” he instructed. “I cleared it with him; told him that this time of year wasn’t the best for you, with it being your mom’s birthday and all.”

The speedster frowned. “But, my mom’s birthday is in June,” he pointed out.

A very Sebastian-like smirk crossed Joe’s face. “Singh don’t need to know that, does he?” he retorted, grinning when his son laughed. “You better glove up.” He waved a pair of black gloves in front of Barry’s face.

“What happened here?” Barry questioned, grabbing the gloves and putting them on.

Joe shrugged his shoulders. “That’s your job, kid. I hope you skipped breakfast.”

***

“Sebastian,” Wells’s voice said through the suit’s earpiece. “Be careful. We don’t know how powerful this meta is.”

The alter ego didn’t respond as he skidded to a stop at the power station. Wells had barely spoken to him since he’d returned to STAR labs, so his concern now seemed a little forced to Sebastian.

But, as always, they had bigger things to worry about than slights to his ego.

Finding the meta human wasn’t difficult; they really did make things that much easier when they announced their presence so openly. Standing the centre of a power station, openly draining the electrical energy definitely classed as announcing their presence.

“I’m pretty sure this is a restricted area,” Sebastian drawled, sarcasm dripping from each word as he inched closer to the other meta. He didn’t want to move too suddenly and end up being struck by lightning - again. That was one experience he had no desire to repeat.

The flashes of light cut off and the meta turned to face Sebastian.

_ “Is his skin  _ glowing?” Sebastian asked Barry.

“ _ It must be the electricity he’s consumed, _ ” Barry theorised. “ _ It’s making his skin look like it’s glowing.” _

Sebastian didn’t get a chance to respond as a bolt of electricity shot from the meta’s hand, aiming straight for Sebastian’s head. Luckily for both him and Barry, Sebastian had amazing reflexes.

“I have to feed,” the meta stated menacingly, taking another shot at him.

Each time a bolt of electricity was aimed at him, Sebastian successfully managed to duck away from the blast. Until he got a little too over confident and he misjudged where the next bolt was going to land.

Instead of missing him, the lightning hit Sebastian and Barry square in the chest. It didn’t feel anything like it had last time, he realised, gritting his teeth as he tried to move away from the electricity. He couldn’t; the energy of the blast was rooting him to the spot.

In his ear, Sebastian could hear both Cisco and Wells demanding to know what was happening and whether he was okay, but he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even open his mouth. He felt like the electricity had fused his jaw closed, and nothing he did could make him be able to speak.

The lightning cut off with a bang, the force of which threw both metas in opposite directions. There was nothing Sebastian could do to stop himself from slamming into one of the power station towers, and he slumped to the ground, roughly hitting his head before passing out.

***

Sebastian groaned as the world slowly began to come into focus again. He was still lying on the ground where he had landed, and the sky was still black so he hadn’t been unconscious for long. Probably nothing longer than five minutes.

He could hear a clicking in his ear and he knew without needing to check that his earpiece had been fried from the blast of electricity. Cisco was not going to be happy about needing to replace something on the suit. Again.

With another groan, he got to his feet and glanced around. There was nothing; the electricity wielding meta had vanished in the time between Sebastian being knocked out and him waking up.

“Best get back to STAR labs,” he said to Barry, turning to face the direction he would need to head in to get to the place that night as well be his second home.

“Sebastian?” Barry asked, making the alter ego freeze on the spot. 

The primary’s voice hadn’t come from inside his head like it normally did, and Sebastian hadn’t felt Barry take over their body long enough to say the name out loud.

Slowly, Sebastian turned in the direction the voice had come from, and felt the air leave him when he saw who he was looking at. 

Barry - looking exactly the same as the reflection Sebastian saw every time he looked in any form of reflective surface - was sitting on the ground, looking as confused as Sebastian felt.

“Well, fuck,” the alter ego swore, unable to think of anything else that would accurately sum up their predicament.

***

Caitlin was frantically pacing the cortex when Sebastian arrived back at STAR labs. As soon as she saw him, she turned on her heel and headed in his direction. “What happened out there?” she demanded, before he could even speak. “We tried to get in touch with you - again - and nothing happened, and…”

She trailed off when Sebastian stepped fully through the door, pulling the reluctant Barry with him.

“Sebastian, what…”

Sebastian sighed and pushed Barry into the nearest available chair. “Guys, meet Barry Allen,” he introduced them, waving his hand in the the direction of the doppelganger.

Across the room, Wells couldn’t keep his expression neutral. It was hard for Sebastian to read what the other man was thinking, but he couldn’t help feeling that Wells looked more excited than intrigued with what was going on.

“This is so weird,” Cisco murmured, looking between Sebastian and Barry, before shaking his head. “I mean, I knew you had two personalities, but to see them both in the same place like this. We’re through the looking glass people.”

From where he was sitting in the chair, Barry couldn’t help smile, but it was Caitlin who spoke. “How is this even possible?”

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and leant on the desk, pulling his mask down as he did. “I have no idea,” he admitted, folding his arms across his chest. “The meta hit me with all this electricity and I could feel it running through me, then there was this explosion. When I woke up, there were two of us.”

Barry nodded his head, but otherwise didn’t add anything and Cisco frowned deeply. “Can he not speak?” he asked, indicating to Barry but talking to Sebastian.

Barry’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man. “Yes, I can speak,” he argued, making all but Sebastian look at him in surprise.

Sebastian knew exactly what was surprising them. This Barry was not the one they were used to. He wasn’t an expert, but Sebastian was pretty sure that this version of Barry would be the one they all saw if Sebastian wasn’t around to have a say in it.

Without Sebastian helping him through the scarier moments in life, and being there to give Barry the confidence to stand up to things, Bartholomew Allen was little more than a timid young man, who didn’t want to say anything that could upset the status quo or hurt anyone’s feelings.

Barry being shy and timid, when they were used to Sebastian’s brash confidence was going to confuse them. 

“It’s hard to get a word in with him,” Barry added, his voice still soft - almost timid - but laced with amusement as he nodded toward Sebastian.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Like you can talk,” he retorted. “You’re the one who’s usually thinking about science when I’m trying to sleep. You’d think it would be boring enough to lull me to sleep, but…”

“Gentlemen,” Wells’s voice cut through their bickering. “I think you’ll agree that if we hope to unite the two of you, we need to run some tests.”

Barry looked absolutely terrified at the thought of anyone doing tests on him, and he looked to Sebastian for help. The alter ego groaned and pushed himself upright. “Well, I can save you one test, Doctor Wells.” Using his superspeed, he ran around the desk a few times. “Barry, you try.”

The primary shook his head firmly. “I can’t,” he whispered.

Sebastian turned to the rest of them, with a raised eyebrow. “He’s not just saying that because he doesn’t want to,” he told them. “It took two attempts to get back here. Whatever happened to us, I’ve kept the superspeed. Barry’s just a normal human.”

Around them, there were collective gasps of surprise. Caitlin was the first to speak. “That is amazing,” she breathed, her eyes lighting up with glee. Sebastian didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that a plethora of possibilities were running through the doctor’s mind. “We definitely need to do some tests,” Caitlin agreed with Doctor Wells.

Sebastian shook his head. “Guys, I’m not sure how comfortable-,”

Before he could finish the sentence, Barry got to his feet and shook his head. “It’s fine, Seb,” he assured the alter ego. “I don’t mind.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the primary, making eye contact to ensure that the other knew what he was getting himself into.

When Barry offered him a reassuring - albeit slightly nervous - smile, Sebastian sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “If you’re sure,” he muttered, waving a dismissive hand.

Caitlin grinned and hurried across the lab, gathering her things. They had tests to complete.

***

Removing Sebastian Allen from the picture had always been part of Harrison Wells’ big picture plan. In 2014, the alter ego had been merely a part of the Flash’s personality, but not the future. The future had big plans for the Allens.

Big plans Harrison had been determine to never let happen.

Killing one or both of them now, while they were separate and couldn’t rely on each other for backup would be so easy. Killing Barry would obviously be the easiest; without his superspeed, he was nothing more than a scared CSI who was too weak-willed to stand up to anyone. Sebastian would pose a bigger problem, but Harrison was confident that he would able to handle it.

If only he didn’t need them in one peice to help him. The timeline had to be preserved, otherwise there would be nothing left to return to.

Leaving the others to conduct their tests, Harrison excused himself and headed to the room he had built to house Gideon.

The door had barely closed behind him before he jumped out of the chair and activated the AI. “Gideon, show me the future,” he ordered sharply. The newspaper article that was displayed had changed. It was no longer an article about the Flash vanishing. Now it was about a postal strike, the fourth in less than a month. Even the writer of the piece was different.

Harrison pulled his glasses off and ran a hand over his face. “Run a complete search. Show any references to the Flash.” It took less than a second for Gideon to announce there  _ were  _ no mentions of the speedster. “Look again.”

“Zero references.”

“Show any references to Barry or Sebastian Allen,” he instructed.

This time the search warranted a result, but only one and it wasn’t what he had been looking for. A marriage announcement for Sebastian Allen to a well respected author. That was it.

“Look again.”

If an AI could sigh, Harrison was pretty sure Gideon would have then. “I’ve searched 3,452 times, Doctor Wells. There’s nothing else.”

***

Being at STAR labs was comforting to Barry, even though everything else that was happening petrified him. Even his own mind scared him at that point; being alone, without Sebastian inside his mind, made him realise just how much he actually relied on the alter ego to guide him through, not just the scary points of life, but life itself in general.

He started when he heard footsteps, before relaxing when he saw that it was only Sebastian. When they had been separated, Sebastian had been the one to remain wearing the Flash suit, but he had quickly shed that upon returning to STAR labs. Now, he was wearing jeans and a blue STAR labs t-shirt, while Barry remained in the same clothes had materialised in; a green sweater and plaid shirt, with worn jeans.

“Sorry,” Sebastian murmured. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Everything scares me now, remember?” he retorted, turning his eyes back to  where he had been staring before being interrupted. The Flash suit.

“Not everything,” Sebastian argued, taking a step closer. “A few years ago, you would have gone straight home and no one would have you seen you until this whole thing was fixed. You’ve been here all day, helping Caitlin and having a laugh with Cisco. You’re braver than you give yourself credit for, Bar.”

The primary snorted with laughter and shook his head, but he didn’t argue with Sebastian. He didn’t like confrontation, even if it was with his own alter ego. Instead he said, “Do you think we’ll be put back together again?” he asked softly.

“I hope so,” Sebastian answered, making Barry look at him in surprise. He had thought that now the alter ego was his own person, he would be happier than he’d ever been. Although, he thought to himself, it had always been Barry that wanted to be normal in the past. Being an average human - without superspeed - was about as normal as it was possible to get.

“You’re the superhero in this partnership, not me,” Sebastian continued, making Barry laugh. “It’s a bit hard for you to be the Flash without superspeed.”

Barry threw one last glance at the Flash suit, before moving away and heading over to where Sebastian was. “It’s so weird,” he confessed. Sebastian raised an eyebrow and Barry continued, “I know we haven’t had our powers for long, but without them, I just felt… wrong. You know?”

“That’s because you  _ love  _ being the Flash,” Sebastian reminded him. “I know I’ve said it, like, a million times, but I have no desire to be a superhero. If I wanted to help people, I would have insisted we become a cop. But you…” He shook his head, and affectionate smile on his face. “You’ve always wanted to help people. Being the Flash gave you the opportunity to do that, Barry. It’s as much a part of you as I am.”

Caitlin’s heels clicking on the floor gave her upcoming presence long before any of them saw her. “The tests have finished,” she told them as she entered the cortex. “Your cells are completely normal, Barry.”

Barry frowned deeply. “Then why I don’t I have my superspeed if nothing has changed?” he asked, confusion obvious in his voice.

Caitlin shook her head. “Your DNA isn’t normal for  _ you _ , Barry,” she corrected. “It’s normal for a human. There’s no trace of the speed force ever being inside you.”

Sebastian let out a low whistle at her announcement. “Have you thought of a way to fix this, yet?” he asked, taking over the conversation from Barry. The primary looked a little stunned by the fact that he was  _ completely  _ human for the first time since the particle accelerator exploded.

A regretful look washed over Caitlin’s face. “Cisco is trying to think of something, but everything we’ve thought of so far wouldn’t work,” she whispered, looking between the two of them. “I’m sorry, but I think we need to accept this might not be reversible.”

“No,” Sebastian said firmly, making the two of them jump. “This is fixable,” he insisted. “You’re just not trying hard enough!”

Caitlin looked taken aback by his words, but it was Barry who reacted first. “Seb,” he whispered, stepping in front of the alter ego. “We’ll find a way to fix this, I promise. We’ll reverse whatever this is, and then we can go back to being the Flash. It’ll be like none of this ever happened.”

Barry glanced over at Caitlin to make sure she was okay - he knew how harsh Sebastian could be sometimes - before looking back at the other man who looked so much like him. “It just might mean that you need to be the Flash for a while.”

In retrospect, Barry should have known that those weren’t the right words to say. A dark look crossed Sebastian’s face as he shook his head. “How many times do I have to tell you?” he demanded, standing up to his full height and somehow managing to tower over Barry. “I’m not interested in being a superhero.”

He didn’t wait for them to argue with, or try convince him to stay. Using his superspeed, Sebastian was out of STAR labs before anyone could react.

***

Sebastian was almost out of the city before he stopped and took a deep breath. It felt weird to run on his own - to not have Barry’s voice in the back of his mind. Even when the primary wasn’t speaking, Sebastian was always aware of his presence, always there if he needed or wanted him. Now there was nothing. There was a void inside his head.

His phone buzzing his pocket reminded him that he’d taken everything Barry usually carried with him. Including a GPS enabled cell. Not that Sebastian cared. They could track him if they wanted. It wasn’t like any of them would be able to catch him.

A quick glance at the screen told him it was Caitlin calling. Sebastian sighed, and let his head fall forward. He hadn’t meant to snap at her and Barry like that, but when Barry had started talking about him being the Flash, Sebastian had felt this wave of emotion overwhelm him and he hadn’t been able to handle it, so he had run.

Maybe  _ he  _ was the more emotionally unstable one, he thought to himself.

The phone stopped ringing, and just when Sebastian thought Caitlin had given up, it started again. He knew he had to answer, it was obvious that she’d only keep calling if he didn’t. “Please leave me alone, Caitlin,” he requested as politely as he could. It wasn’t her fault that Sebastian felt pressured to do something he didn’t want to.

He wasn’t used to peer pressure. It was actually unnerving him.

“It’s not Caitlin,” Barry’s voice came through the line, sounding so much like his own but so very different at the same time.

All pretense of being polite flew out the window and Sebastian snarled in irritation. There was only one reason Barry would be calling him; to try and change Sebastian’s mind. “Was me leaving not obvious enough for you?” he snapped. “I’ve already told you; I’m not playing the hero. I’m free. For the first time I don’t have someone else controlling my actions and telling me I can’t do something. Why would I want to come back?

In the background, Sebastian could hear someone yelling, but he couldn’t hear what was being said. “I know you don’t want to be a hero,” Barry agreed. “And I’m know it’s not fair to ask you to be again.” There was a crash. “It’s not you. You’d rather go out, date hot boys and spend all day on a stage than be a superhero. But that’s not our choice anymore. We can’t ignore that we - you - have powers now.”

More yelling. This time he was pretty sure he heard Caitlin scream. “Barry, what’s going on?” he demanded.

The primary didn’t even hesitate to reply. “Blackout. He’s here at STAR labs. He blames Wells for what happened to him, so he’s going to make him pay.”

Another crash, this one louder than the ones before. Barry added, “Seb, I…”

Sebastian didn’t hear the rest of his sentence. He was already on his way back to STAR labs.

***

“You saved the day,” Barry said, approaching Sebastian. The alter ego was standing at the treadmill, staring into space and had been for almost an hour. None of them had been brave enough to interrupt him.

None except Barry. Maybe Sebastian had been right about him all along; maybe he was braver than he gave himself credit for.

Sebastian shook his head. “Isn’t that what you wanted?” he muttered. “You called me to get me to come back and be the big damn hero. Well, congratulations, you got your wish.”

“That’s not what I was calling you for, Seb,” Barry argued, making the other man look at him surprise. “I wanted to apologise to you.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “We’ve been sharing the same body our entire lives, and it wasn’t until this whole thing with Blackout,” Cisco had been particularly proud of that one, “that I realised how much I’ve been taking you for granted.”

Sebastian couldn’t keep the disbelief off his face, but Barry apparently wasn’t done. “I’ve been relying on you to do things for me, but I never actually thought about what  _ you  _ wanted to do. Hell, the one time I was actually aware you were trying to help me, I blocked you out completely and we got struck by lightning.”

“Asking you to be the Flash, when you’ve made it blatantly obvious that being a superhero isn’t something for you, wasn’t fair,” Barry finished. “And I’m sorry.”

The alter ego didn’t reply for a moment, before he smirked. “Have you been practising that?” Sebastian laughed.

Barry rolled his eyes. “God, you’re such a bitch,” he muttered, although he couldn’t suppress a smile and chuckle either. 

“Guys!” Cisco exclaimed, dashing into the training room with an excited look on his face. “I think I’ve figured out how to put you back together again.” The pair of them looked him in surprise, and he continued, “If we replicate the circumstances that split you in the first place, we might be able to reverse it.”

Sebastian groaned and rolled his eyes. “Seriously, you people really don’t know how to speak non-sciencey do you?” he grumbled, looking at Barry and silently demanding an explanation.

“If Cisco can blast us with enough electricity, he might be able to put us back together.”

“Oh,” Sebastian murmured. “Why didn’t you just say that?” He looked back over at Cisco. “What do we need to do?”

Before the engineer could speak, Barry interrupted. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. “That’s a lot of electricity. If it doesn’t work, we could end up barbequed.” Barry was pretty sure Sebastian hadn’t realised that, if the wide-eyed look he received was anything to go by. “Even if it does work, it’ll mean we’re back to being the Flash.”

Sebastian shrugged a shoulder, clearly trying to give off an air of nonchalance. “There are worse things to be called than a superhero, right?”

***

Unknown to Cisco, Caitlin, Barry and Sebastian, Harrison wells moved quickly through the STAR labs facility, heading for the pipeline. Farooq - even he didn’t like Cisco penchant for naming all their super villains - had managed to do the one thing Harrison had been trying to do for years.

Figure out how it was possible to separate the two personalities.

Now that Sebastian and Barry were sharing one body again - at least for the next few years - and the timeline had been restored, Harrison felt comfortable with focusing on his own mission.

Splitting the two of them again. Only this time he would make sure only neither of them kept the speed force. With them apart and powerless, killing the Flash would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

Caitlin had put the dead body in a cell of its own, and it was easy to program the computer to bring the cell back to the front of the pipeline.

Reaching into his pocket, Harrison pulled out a syringe and crouched down, unzipping the body bag as he went. In front of him was the secret to figuring out what had happened, and there was no way he was going to let  _ this  _ opportunity pass him by.

“You had the ability to split the Allens,” he mused, talking to himself more than Farooq as he drew blood from the dead meta. “Now, I would love to know how you managed that.”

***

Running with someone else in his head was far more comforting than it had been on his own, Sebastian decided. Luckily for all of them, Cisco’s plan to reunite them had worked and there didn’t seem to be any lasting damage; just a strong smell of burning flesh in STAR labs which Caitlin had assured them would fade quickly.

When they skidded to a stop, Sebastian looked around in surprise. When Barry had said he wanted to go for a run, Sebastian had thought that mean the primary just wanted to stretch their legs. 

Running over six hundred miles hadn’t been what the alter ego had expected.

They were in Starling City.

_ “Did you mean to run this far?” _ he asked, but it wasn’t Barry who answered him.

“Sebastian.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, cliffhangers, how I've missed you :-)


	9. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected trip to Starling turns into an even more unexpected evening for Sebastian, especially since Barry had apparently planned the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** WARNING ***
> 
> This chapter contains m/m sex (Let's face it, that's why you're all here anyway ;) ). There is also rimming and slight undertones of Dom!Oliver, Sub!Sebastian; but it is only slight.
> 
> While Sebastian is the one fully in charge of what is happening in the sexual activity department, any sex he does have is always consensual on Barry's part. He knows exactly what Sebastian is doing, and has no complaints; otherwise he is is strong enough to stop it. I'm operating on the idea that they are two people in one body (especially after what happened in Power Outage to support the theory).
> 
> ***

They were in Starling City.

_ “Did you mean to run this far?” _ he asked, but it wasn’t Barry who answered him.

“Sebastian.”

The alter ego spun around in surprise. His eyes widening when he saw Oliver Queen standing across the roof, wearing his usual green outfit; the hood was down, but the mask was still firmly set in place.

“ _ I wanted to thank you for sticking around and helping out,”  _ Barry’s voice echoed in his mind, and Sebastian drew in a breath as he realised what Barry was saying. He got to play with Oliver. Finally.

Focusing on Oliver, Sebastian smiled and took a step closer. “Didn’t I say it wouldn’t take you long to get used to who you were talking to,” he purred, lifting his hand and teasingly trailing his fingers up Oliver’s leather covered arm.

He didn’t give the older man chance to respond, before he reached up with both hands, framing Oliver’s face and pressing their lips together. Sebastian had been fantasising about Oliver Queen for  _ months,  _ but the reality was much better than any dreams he could have conjured up.

When they needed to breathe, Sebastian pulled away and smirked. “I’ve been wanting to do that for over a year,” he whispered.

Oliver didn’t react to Sebastian’s actions or his words, and for the first time in his life, Sebastian started to wonder if he had made the right decision. He was so used to being the one who rushed into things head first without thinking about the consequences. He had never stopped to consider what would happen if he had been mis-reading the signs the last time they had seen each other.

Maybe Oliver really was as straight as Iris had thought originally.

Before he could speak, Oliver took a step forward and, dammit, Sebastian couldn’t help jump in surprise at the sudden movement. Oliver reached out with one gloved hand and cupped Sebastian’s cheek, softly running his thumb over the alter ego’s cheek bone.

Without saying a word, Oliver closed the already small gap between them and pressed their lips together with as much passion as Sebastian had. Under the onslaught of sensation from Oliver, Sebastian couldn’t help moaning softly as he pressed closer to the vigilante.

All too soon they had to part for oxygen, but Sebastian wasn’t about to let Oliver get too far away from him. He gripped the other man’s biceps tightly, keeping him place as he focused on peppering kisses against the older man’s face, just below the perfectly sculptured mask over his eyes.

He was vaguely aware of Oliver mimicking his actions and pressing kisses up his neck, but he was too lost in the sensation of finally getting what he wanted, that he couldn’t really concentrate on what Oliver was actually doing.

Sebastian felt lips press against his ear and felt Oliver’s hot breath against his skin as he whispered something; words that Sebastian’s haze filled mind couldn’t comprehend at that point. It was only when Barry spoke in his mind that Sebastian even registered the fact that Oliver had spoken actual words, rather than meaningless nothings.

“ _ He wants you to take him home, Seb _ .”

The idea of going back to Oliver’s place made his cock twitch with anticipation and he swallowed thickly, before realising that he had no idea where Oliver actually lived. Luckily for him, Barry had been paying attention, and was more than happy to provide him with the address.

“Hold tight,” Sebastian whispered, tightening his grip on Oliver slightly, before using his super-speed to zip them both to Oliver’s loft. It wasn’t exactly a mansion but it was still more than anything Sebastian would ever be able to afford.

That was as much looking around as he had chance to do as they zipped to Oliver’s bedroom, not stopping until they were falling onto the mattress. Oliver pulled away from Sebastian as soon as they arrived, catching his breath from the sudden movement at such intense speed. 

Oliver reached up, pulling his mask off and dropping it to the floor now they were alone; there was no need for secret identities in the privacy of Oliver’s bedroom.

He pressed a kiss to Sebastian’s lips, before pulling back and flipping the speedster onto his back, with such suddenness that Sebastian actually yelped in surprise. He barely had chance to process the change in position, before Oliver pressed himself against Sebastian’s back.

“You told me that you’d fantasised about me against your back,” Oliver whispered in Sebastian’s ear. “Is this what you had in mind?” He ground his hips down, enticingly brushing his leather covered cock against Sebastian’s ass.

Sebastian moaned and pressed back against the pressure of Oliver’s weight above him. “Fuck,” he breathed. “This is nothing like the fantasy,” he confessed. “Doesn’t even compare.”

Oliver chuckled against his throat, nibbling the skin there gently. “Shall I see if I can make it even better?”

Lust shot through Sebastian and he found it difficult to breathe. “Oh god,” he murmured. “Yes. Please. Please.” There were very few people Sebastian was willing to beg for; Oliver Queen was currently top of that list.

Obligingly, Oliver took a few moments to kiss and nibble at Sebastian’s neck. While he focused on reducing the alter ego to a quivering mess, his gloved hands were by no means idle as they slipped underneath Sebastian’s jacket, caressing the smooth skin of his back.

Pretty soon, his lips followed his hands, although Oliver didn’t remove the jacket completely; barely pausing to push it up, out of his way. The fact that he was still fully clothed served to make Sebastian even more turned on and his cock became even harder in his jeans.

His breath grew shallower when Oliver’s lips reached the base of his spine, before stopping abruptly. The sudden change in pace drew a whine from Sebastian and he pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking over his shoulder at Oliver.

“Is that it?”

Oliver laughed and shook his head. “I  _ was  _ going to make sure you were okay with me taking this further,” he informed Sebastian, who narrowed his eyes. “Just checking,” he muttered, pulling his gloves off and dropping them to the floor.

Without another word, he reached underneath Sebastian, unfastening his jeans as the other man flopped down onto the mattress. Even as he pressed back into Oliver’s touch, he buried his face in the pillow and moaned wantonly.

Oliver tugged the jeans down, stopping when they were halfway down his thighs, much to Sebastian’s distress. Any arguments he might have had, died on Sebastian’s lips when he felt Oliver’s hands on his bare ass for the first time.

“Fuck,” Sebastian breathed, clawing at the sheets underneath him. He was being driven insane, he was sure of it, and Oliver hadn’t even touched him properly yet.

“We’ll get there,” Oliver promised, his voice barely more than a breathy whisper. 

Using those deliciously calloused hands, Oliver parted Sebastian’s ass cheeks and the speedster was pretty sure he passed out when he felt a swipe of tongue against his entrance.

Oliver  _ frickin’  _ Queen was giving him a rim-job.

“Ollie,” Sebastian breathed, his fingers gripping tightly at the pillow as he tried to press back against Oliver’s tongue. The steady hands on his ass weren’t letting him move though, and he had no choice but to lie still and let Oliver do what he wanted.

Not that Sebastian was complaining.

He had imagined doing incredibly dirty things with the archer, but rimming had never even popped into his head. It was one of the things very few guys he’d met actually liked to do, so, even though Sebastian loved the feeling of receiving a rim-job, he had put the possibility out of his mind long ago.

The deeper Oliver’s tongue worked its way into Sebastian’s body, the more he began repeating the other man’s name, until all he could say was, “Ollie. Oliver. Ollie,” with very few breaths and moans in between.

Far too soon for Sebastian’s liking, Oliver pulled away, drawing a whine from the alter ego. That whine was quickly transformed into a moan when his jeans were pulled completely off; Sebastian quickly got with the picture and pulled his jacket and shirt off.

The air in the loft was cool on his skin, but that just meant it felt even better when Oliver, now also as naked as he was, pressed himself against Sebastian’s back.

Sebastian turned his head and captured Oliver’s lips in a passionate kiss. Even though the angle wasn’t exactly the most comfortable, it was one of the best kisses Sebastian had ever experienced.

He moaned into Oliver’s mouth when he felt slick fingers press his entrance - when the  _ hell  _ had Oliver managed to grab the lube? “Fuck, keep going,” he whispered, curling his fingers in the sheets.

Oliver was more than happy to oblige and he carefully slid two fingers easily into Sebastian’s body. The number of guys Sebastian had had inside of him wasn’t exactly small - he was a taker, not a giver - but there were very few of them who had managed to make Sebastian feel like he was about to come from being prepped only.

Although, that was probably mostly Oliver’s doing, than anything else, he thought to himself as the other man added another finger.

Far too soon for Sebastian’s liking, Oliver slid his fingers from Sebastian’s body, making the alter ego whine and pout at the loss. Behind him, Oliver chuckled - all breathy and lust-filled, the sound of that laugh alone almost made Sebastian come,  _ damn him _ \- and leant back down, pressing himself against Sebastian’s back again.

This time, he didn’t just grind his crotch against Sebastian’s ass. There was a little burning as Oliver’s more-than average sized cock slid into his prepared hole, but it was nothing Sebastian couldn’t handle. If anything, he wished his enhanced healing wasn’t going to fix his body by morning. He wanted to remember Oliver every time he moved for the next few days.

Oliver’s hands steadied themselves on Sebastian’s hips, holding the speedster in place until he was buried to the hilt in his body.

It was only then that he paused and pressed a kiss against Sebastian’s neck. “You still with me, Seb?” he whispered, teasingly rolling his hips a little.

Sebastian groaned, the sound of his nickname on Oliver’s lips was doing delicious things to him, and tried to press back further onto Oliver’s cock. “Fuck,” he murmured, bringing one hand up and burying his fingers in the other man’s short hair. “More. Please,” he begged, barely able to stand Oliver not moving.

Against his skin, he felt Oliver smirk, but thankfully the archer took pity on him and started moving; slowly at first, but increasing with speed and intensity rapidly.

For a while, the only sounds that could be heard in the loft were skin-against-skin, and their panted breaths, with the occasional plea of ‘Sebastian’ or ‘Oliver’ thrown into the mix.

When Oliver shifted inside his body so each thrust pounded Sebastian’s prostate, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. There was no way in hell he was coming before Oliver, though.

Luckily for both of them, Sebastian had a trick up his sleeve. One that was going to give Oliver as much pleasure as it would Sebastian.

It took a few attempts to focus through the cloud that had settled over his mind, but when he did start vibrating his body - gently; he didn’t want to throw Oliver across the room or something - he was rewarded by Oliver going rigid above him.

“Fuck!” the older man almost yelled, his fingers digging into his hips hard enough to leave bruises; Sebastian could dream, couldn’t he? “What the-?”

Sebastian smirked and did it again, drawing the same reaction from the Arrow. “Did I not tell you I could vibrate?” His chuckle dragged out to a moan when Oliver reached down, squeezing his balls almost painfully.

“Do it again,” Oliver commanded, and fuck if that didn’t Sebastian even hotter. He would gladly do anything this man told him to. That had the potential to be very dangerous.

This time when Sebastian vibrated, Oliver aimed his cock so he was pressing against the speedster’s prostate. One squeeze of his balls was all it took for Sebastian to come undone in the vigilante’s hands.

He did feel a swell of smug satisfaction when he felt Oliver spill himself into his body, a shout of Sebastian’s name echoing the other’s cry of his name.

***


	10. The Brave and the Bold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Digger Harkness attacks ARGUS, and Oliver is too stubborn to ask for help from the Flash. Lucky for him, Caitlin calls in Barry and Sebastian for reinforcements.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set during Arrow 3x08 ('The Brave and the Bold).
> 
> ***

It had been a long time since Sebastian had woken up with someone else in the bed beside him. In fact, the last person he had woken up beside had been Iris, which depressed him.

He was actually surprised by how much he actually liked it.

“ _ Are you seriously changing your mind on the whole relationship thing? _ ” Barry asked in his mind, and Sebastian groaned, even as he snorted with laughter. It was too early to have to deal with the primary’s insistence on Sebastian settling down with someone.

His laugh got the attention of his bed mate and Sebastian rolled over, taking in the sight of a sleep-dishevelled Oliver Queen.

One more thing to cross of his bucket list.

“Morning,” Oliver murmured, his voice rough with sleep. Or rather, lack thereof. Sebastian had no idea what time they had actually passed out, but he knew it had been in the very early hours of the morning.

Sebastian grinned and shifted closer to Oliver. “Morning,” he replied. “Shall we try for another go before I have to head back to Central City?” he asked, slipping his hand around Oliver’s back and pulling him closer roughly.

Oliver groaned a little as their morning erections brushed, and it was one of the most delicious sounds Sebastian had ever heard. “Sounds like a plan,” the archer murmured, running his hand around the back of Sebastian’s neck and kissing the alter ego passionately, rubbing against him as he did.

The sound of a phone ringing dragged Oliver’s attention away from Sebastian. “Leave it,” the speedster growled, trying to capture Oliver’s lips with his own again, but Oliver had already moved too far out of reach.

“It’s Felicity,” he told Sebastian, getting up from the bed. “It must be important.” He froze for a second, phone in hand and before he looked up at the alter ego. “She can’t know about what happened last night,” he said firmly.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “I thought you two had decided dating wasn’t a good idea,” he stated, pushing himself into an upright position. As awful as he felt thinking it, Sebastian hadn’t even thought about how Felicity would feel if she knew he had slept with Oliver.

“ _ They’re not dating,”  _ Barry assured the alter ego. “ _ I checked _ .”

Oliver nodded. “We’re not,” he confirmed. “But this, what happened last night, would be too complicated to explain. After what I told her about not wanting to be in a relationship…”

Sebastian laughed and got off the bed, not caring that he was completely naked. “Oliver,” he murmured, sauntering across the room to where the other man was, “I’m not sure how much Barry told you about me - I was a little busy when he called you - but I don’t  _ do  _ relationships.”

He ran his hand down Oliver’s chest, brushing the back of his fingers teasingly over his cock when he reached it. “Last night was fun and if you want we can  _ definitely  _ do it again. But I don’t want a boyfriend anymore than you do.”

The look of relief that crossed Oliver’s face was almost adorable and there was no way Sebastian could resist kissing him passionately. Only to have this one interrupted by the phone ringing again.

“She’s going to keep calling if I don’t answer,” Oliver murmured against his lips. He kissed Sebastian once before he took a step back, answering the call.

***

Oliver had been called away to assist with something he hadn’t shared with Sebastian. The archer had been apologetic about leaving, but Sebastian had insisted that it was fine; he had made it a condition that they take a shower together before they went their separate ways, though.

Barry had suggested they use their superspeed to get back to Central City, but Sebastian had insisted that they get the train. These days it was a rarity for them to use normal, non-speedster, methods of transport, and he wanted to remember what being ‘normal’ felt like again.

If Barry realised that Sebastian was putting off going home, he didn’t comment.

Ten minutes before their train was due to arrive in the station, Caitlin’s face flashed in front of the game he had been playing on his phone.

“Hey,” Barry greeted, running a hand over his face.

“Barry,” Caitlin’s voice sounded scared, and it immediately got the attention of both personalities. “Cisco and I are in Starling City.” That was a surprise, but the doctor hadn’t finished. “I think you need to get to Starling City. It’s Oliver; he’s going to need your help.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and got to his feet. He had offered to help Oliver out with whatever Felicity had called about, but the other man had been too stubborn to accept it, even though he now obviously needed it.

“Where is he?” Sebastian asked, moving to leave the train station. His train would have to leave without him.

“ARGUS headquarters,” Caitlin answered. “Captain Boomerang is attacking.”

“I’m on my way,” the alter ego assured her, cancelling the call and using his superspeed to get into the suit he had decided to take with him wherever he went - life was just going to be easier if he did.

In Sebastian’s opinion, ARGUS hadn’t designed the building very well. Sure, everything was made of glass, making it very hard for bad guys to hide. But, it also meant the good guys didn’t have anywhere to hide from the villains.

When Sebastian arrived, the attack was already in full swing. Bullets and Boomerangs were both flying through the air with alarming accuracy.  _ “What was Oliver thinking, not calling us for help?”  _ Barry grumbled as Sebastian sped through the building.

The alter ego didn’t answer. There were two boomerangs heading straight for the archer, and Oliver hadn’t even realised. Lucky for him, Sebastian had.

Catching the projectiles was easy and he slid to a stop, boomerangs clutched in hand. He barely even noticed the attacker getting away as he surveyed the space around them.

Everyone was looking at him in surprise - although there was a bit of irritation on Oliver’s face.

“What?” he asked defensively before speeding off. He might as well wait for the other’s back at Oliver’s hideout; let them deal with the clean-up.

***

The Arrow’s secret hideout didn’t look any different from the last time they had seen it. The only real difference he could see was that there was another mannequin for a costume. Presumably it was for the guy wearing red, whoever he was.

Directly opposite Felicity’s workstation was the infamous salmon ladder and it was in front of this that Sebastian found Cisco standing.

“Have you tried it yet?” Sebastian asked, coming to a stop next to his friend and pulling his mask off. “It’s doesn’t look too hard.”

Cisco scowled and handed him the bar. “Let’s see how you cope, Mr Perfect.”

Sebastian smirked and, using his superspeed, set about going up and down the salmon ladder. When he reached a hundred repetitions, he stopped and handed the bar back to Cisco.

“See,” he retorted, clapping the other man on the shoulder, “it’s not as hard as it looks.”

He laughed and ducked when Cisco threatened to hit him with the bar, before heading over to where Felicity and Caitlin were.

“I’m still not sure she should have called you,” Felicity said, worry etched on her face.

“ _ Remember what Oliver said,”  _ Barry pointed out.  _ “Don’t tell her that we were already here _ .”

Sebastian rolled his eyes.  _ “I wasn’t going to,”  _ he snapped, before turning his attention back to Felicity.

Caitlin and Felicity were both looking at him curiously and Sebastian could tell that they wanted to know what he had been discussing with Barry, but neither of them asked. Obviously, they respected his privacy enough to trust that it wasn’t something they needed to know.

“Oliver doesn’t play well with others,” Felicity said, finishing her thought now that she had Sebastian and Barry’s attention again.

Sebastian scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Believe me, I haven’t forgotten,” he muttered, thinking back to the week previously when he had been on the receiving end of pointed projectiles courtesy of the other man. “The guy was tossing ‘round exploding boomerangs, they needed back-up.”

He shrugged his shoulders just as his stomach grumbled. “And I need food,” he stated, zipping off to find something to eat. The salmon ladder had made him hungry for sushi. On the way out, he passed Oliver and the others, but he was moving so fast he was pretty sure they hadn’t even registered that he had been there.

When he arrived back, less than five minutes later with a bag of food for everyone, he sped into the room, past everyone and landed in a chair. The momentum made him bash his knee on the desk, and he frowned, rubbing the injury petulantly.

“Hey,” Caitlin hissed, turning to glare at him, “secret identity.”

Sebastian shrugged and waved his chopsticks in the direction of Diggle and the pretty brunette he was with. “What? They’re married.”

He ignored their insistence that they weren’t married and allowed his eyes to slide over to the only other person in the room he didn’t know. Now that the hood was down and the mask was off, it would have been impossible to not notice how impossibly good-looking this new person was. His chiseled jaw and slightly pouty lips were generally everything Sebastian tended to look for in a guy, and he couldn’t help licking his lip eagerly. Sebastian wouldn’t mind getting to know him better when this was all over.

_ “Seriously, do you ever think about anything else?”  _

_ “Not really,”  _ Sebastian retorted, stuffing a sushi roll into his mouth just as Oliver stepped over to him, beckoning him away from the others.

“I thought you had gone home,” Oliver stated when they were far enough away that they couldn’t be heard.

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. “I was at the train station and Caitlin called me. I don’t see what the big deal is; I saved your life.”

Oliver sighed in exasperation. Apparently that was his standard setting whenever he was around the speedster, Sebastian realised. Unless they were both naked of course; there had been no exasperation the night before.

“Which I appreciate,” Oliver insisted. “But things work differently here, Sebastian, compared to Central. Starling City is… meaner.”

Sebastian smirked, only when he spoke it wasn’t him who replied. It was Barry. “I seem to remember doing pretty well last year, and that was without powers,” the primary pointed out.

Barry standing up for himself didn’t just surprise Sebastian, even Oliver looked shocked that the CSI stood up for him without any prompting from his alter ego.

“Fine,” Oliver muttered, rolling his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “But we do this my way.”

“Yes!” Sebastian hissed, unable to keep the grin off of his face. “One question though.” He waited until Oliver raised a questioning eyebrow, before adding, “Who’s the hottie in red?”

***

Barry felt like he was going to be sick. What Oliver had done to get information out of Markos had been nothing short of torture, no matter how much the archer had insisted that it had simply been interrogation.

_ “Markos was a bad guy,”  _ Sebastian had been trying to reason with him since they arrived back at the Arrow lair, but nothing the alter ego said could make Barry forget what Oliver had done, and how he had acted like Barry was in the wrong for calling him on it.

_ “What he did was wrong, Sebastian, _ ” Barry retorted, leaning his head against the railing. He was sitting on the steps that lead upstairs, and wasn’t really listening to what the others were saying a short distance away.

He could feel Sebastian’s frustrations and knew they were aimed at him, rather than Oliver. Barry wasn’t an idiot; he knew Sebastian didn’t actually disapprove of Oliver’s methods.

_ “Seriously, you sleep with him once and suddenly you agree that torture is the way to go, _ ” Barry muttered in their mind.

A bolt of surprise shot through him, distracting him from their argument, and Sebastian spluttered, “ _ Did you just think about sleeping with another man?”  _ he demanded.  _ “Without freaking out?” _

Barry rolled his eyes and got to his feet.  _ “We have bigger things to worry about than me possibly coming to terms with our sexuality, Seb,”  _ he retorted.

Oliver was heading the direction of the staircase and he sighed heavily when he saw that Sebastian was blocking his path. They were all heading out to the ARGUS facility Felicity had tracked. They needed Sebastian, regardless of what Oliver liked to think.

***

Another trap, another person in the hospital because he was too slow to stop it.

“This wasn’t your fault, Barry,” Oliver’s voice said softly, making him start in surprise.

Barry frowned deeply. “Did I… Can you read my mind?”

Oliver chuckled and shook his head, taking a step closer and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Of course not,” he retorted. “You were talking outloud.”

“Oh,” Barry murmured, feeling a blush creep up his neck. 

The older man shifted on his spot and, for a second looked more vulnerable than Barry had ever seen him. “Look, Barry, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. What I said… It’s been a long time since I had people I consider close friends. You, Dig, Felicity and Roy are the people closest to me who aren’t family.”

Barry wanted to say something - felt like he needed to say something - but he couldn’t think of any words that would accurately convey how he was feeling, so instead he stayed silent.

“While I was… on the island, I did things I’m not proud of. Things that would make you and everyone see me in a different light if you knew.” Oliver sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. “Seeing  _ you  _ looking at me like that…”

Sebastian frowned and reached a hand out, about to put a hand on his arm, but stopping before they came into contact. “How I feel about you hasn’t changed, Oliver,” he assured the archer. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to pick out curtains or anything, but knowing that you can do something like…”

“Torture?” Oliver supplied, making Sebastian narrow his eyes.

“Something like that,” Sebastian continued, ignoring Oliver. “Doesn’t change that fact that I would drop to my knees in a heartbeat if you asked.”

A surprised laugh escaped Oliver and Sebastian grinned in response. It was nice to know he could still surprise people.

***

Barry had been silent for most of the journey. He and Oliver had spoken briefly when they’d gotten on the plane after depositing Digger Harkness in his new cell on Lian Yu, but for the last couple of hours, Barry had been silent. Mostly he had spent his time staring out of the plane’s window.

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked almost three hours into their flight when he’d decided he couldn’t take the silence any longer.

Even though Oliver had intentionally tried to keep his voice soft so he didn’t startle the younger man, Barry still jumped in surprise.

“I’m fine,” Barry whispered, turning his attention back to the window. “I just don’t like flying, is all.”

“Barry…” Oliver began, breaking off when he realised that he didn’t know what he had been about to say. “I’m sorry for dragging you all the way out here,” he finally said. He meant the words, but they hadn’t been the ones that had been on the tip of his tongue.

Hazel eyes turned back to regard him curiously. “You didn’t drag me anywhere, Oliver,” Barry assured him. “I wouldn’t have agreed to come if I didn’t want to.”

Oliver wasn’t sure how truthful those words were, but he didn’t comment. He wasn’t sure how much of the decision to accompany him had been Barry’s and how much had been Sebastian’s, but if Oliver had to guess he would have bet money on it being mostly the alter ego’s fault.

“Barry?” Oliver asking, getting the CSI’s attention once more. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, and it’s not that I don’t like talking to you, but would it be okay if I spoke to Sebastian?”

A look of surprise crossed Barry’s face for a second, before he nodded once. Just like the last time Oliver had seen them transition between the two, Barry’s entire posture changed. As himself, Barry seemed like he didn’t want anyone to notice him - he practically stooped to make sure he didn’t stand out in a crowd.

When Sebastian was the one in charge, the alter ego took advantage of every inch his six-foot two frame offered him. Shoulders back, and head held high, there was no way Sebastian would ever be able to blend in with his surroundings. Even slouched in the plane’s seat, Sebastian demanded attention.

“How are you holding up?” Oliver asked once he knew for certain that it was Sebastian he was talking to. 

Sebastian smiled and took a drink of the soda Barry had gotten earlier but hadn’t touched. “Well I didn’t stand on any land mines, so I think this trip could be considered a success,” he replied, making Oliver chuckle in amusement.

Oliver couldn’t remember the last time someone had made him smile as much as Sebastian did, he realised with a jolt. Well, he mentally corrected himself, Felicity did. And that was what made this whole thing with Sebastian that much more complicated.

The archer wasn’t an idiot, he was aware that falling so quickly for the speedster wasn’t a good idea, but he also hadn’t been lying when he had told Sebastian that he wasn’t looking for a relationship. It wouldn’t be fair to Felicity  _ or  _ Sebastian (and by extension, Barry) to bring them into a world where he was constantly putting himself in danger.

No, things were better if they remained casual between them. They could have more fun that way without having to worry that one of them was going to lose the other.

“Thank you for not pushing about this becoming a relationship,” Oliver softly, focusing on the speedster opposite him and not the complicated turn their lives had taken.

Sebastian scoffed and waved his hand. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’m not into relationships anyway,” he stated. “I’m only twenty-four. I enjoy going to clubs and having fun too much to settle down with one person. There’ll be plenty of time for that in the future. You don’t have to worry about me getting too attached,” he assured Oliver.

Oliver smiled at his words and leant forward, thankful he had unfastened his seatbelt as soon as the pilot had switched the fastened seat belt sign off. It was his plane, he wasn’t about to sit there with a seat belt on when he didn’t have to. 

They were alone for the moment; there was no sense in wasting the opportunity. “Well, if you ever want to have  _ fun _ with me again,” he whispered, reaching out with his hand and cupping Sebastian's cheek, “I wouldn’t say no.”

The alter ego’s eyes fluttered closed and he groaned a little as he leant into Oliver’s touch.

“Besides, I think it would be fun to see what else you can do besides vibrate,” Oliver added, leaning up so he was practically pushing Sebastian back into his seat and pressing a soft kiss to the other man’s lips.

***


	11. The Man In The Yellow Suit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora Allen's killer, the man in the yellow lightning returns to Central City, and a visit to Henry Allen reveals it's not just Barry and Sebastian who have a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** WARNING ***
> 
> This chapter contains mentions of the loss of an unborn child in the past.
> 
> ***

Iris had given up pacing the room almost an hour ago.  _ She  _ had been ready for even longer than that, but her best friend was the one taking his sweet ass time getting dressed.

“Would you hurry up?” she snapped after another ten minutes of waiting.

From the bathroom, she heard Sebastian laugh, but otherwise didn’t get a response. Five more minutes passed before the door opened and the alter ego finally stepped out. He was wearing tight black jeans, and a royal blue t-shirt, with a low neckline. Nothing about his appearance explained why he had taken so long. 

“Finally!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the arm with frustration. She had washed, blow-dried and curled her hair in less time than he had spent perfecting his look.

Sebastian smirked as he stepped around her, grabbing her glass of wine from where she had discarded it while she’d been pacing, and finishing off the remaining alcohol. Not that it tasted of anything other than generic grape juice. “I didn’t take that long,” he argued. “Stop being such a drama queen.”

Iris rolled her eyes. “Seb, you take longer to get ready than  _ any  _ woman I have  _ ever  _ met. It’s almost eleven; all the good looking guys will already have hooked up.”

“What do you care?” Sebastian asked with a laugh, glancing at where his leather jacket was waiting on Iris’s bed. “We’re going to a gay club. It’s not like you’re going to hook up.” He turned to regard her with a raised eyebrow. “Unless there’s something you haven’t been telling me.”

His best friend shook her head and punched him in the shoulder. “You’re the one who’s been complaining about not hooking up with anyone for ages.”

Sebastian chuckled to himself and briefly considered not telling her what had happened lately. He quickly decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up; plus, he didn’t like keeping secrets from her. It was bad enough that she didn’t know about him being the Flash, there was no way he was keeping his mouth shut about sexual conquests.

“Well…” he began and Iris’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“No way!” she murmured. “You got laid and didn’t tell me?” The punch she landed on his arm then hurt much worse than the first one. “When? Who was it?”

_ “You’re enjoying this too much,”  _ Barry’s voice echoed in his mind, making Sebastian chuckle even more.

“Oliver. Queen,” Sebastian told Iris with a grin.

If he had thought she’d look surprised before, the look on her face at his announcement could only be described as astonishment. “You’re lying,” she stated after a while, obviously have come to the conclusion that he was playing some kind of practical joke on her.

Sebastian mock-gasped. “I never lie.” Iris raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes. “Fine, I do, but I  _ never  _ lie when it comes to who I’ve slept with, you know that.”

“You’re such a bastard,” Iris grumbled, scowling at her best friend. “You don’t sleep with someone as famous as Oliver Queen and keep  _ that  _ to yourself! When did this happen?” she demanded.

The alter ego laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Last week.” She growled and began complaining about him keeping his love life secret from her for  _ seven whole days.  _ “Wait til you find out what he actually did,” Sebastian taunted, steering her down the stairs.

She tried to get more information from him, but as they got to the sitting room, he refused to talk. Joe was standing in the middle of the room, and if there was one thing the police officer had always insisted on, it was that he didn’t want to hear about their sexual experiences.

Hearing about his son receiving a rim job from Oliver Queen would definitely scar Joe for life.

“Where are you two going?” Joe asked, turning around when he heard them come down the stairs.

Iris grinned back at him. “There’s a new club opened downtown, so we decided to give it a try,” she answered, checking for something in her purse.

Joe looked a little crestfallen at her response, and Sebastian let his eyes flicker around the room for the first time since they’d come down the stairs. The Christmas tree had already been put up, but it was bare.

“We were going to decorate the tree tonight,” Sebastian remembered, feeling like the worst son in the world. Even Barry had forgotten about their annual family tradition.

The police officer waved his hand. “Forget about it,” he said, even though it was obvious from his voice that he was upset that their plans had changed. “Go. Have fun. We can decorate tomorrow.”

Iris and Sebastian exchanged looks, both of them clearly thinking the exact same thing. There was no way they would be able to go out and enjoy themselves, knowing that they had spoilt Joe’s plans for the evening.

“Dad,” Iris began, dropping her purse to the couch and kicking off her heels. “The club will always be there, but it’s tradition for all of us to decorate the tree.”

Joe looked at them in surprise. “Really?” he asked, looking between his children, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. 

Sebastian grinned and jumped over the couch, grabbing the nearest box and pulling it closer. “Only if you have Grandma Esther’s eggnog.”

***

In the early hours of the morning, Joe had fallen asleep in the armchair, leaving Sebastian and Iris to finish decorating the tree.

“I can’t believe we forgot about helping him tonight,” Iris murmured, looking over at her dad with sadness in her eyes.

Sebastian frowned. “At least we stayed,” he replied, not bothering to keep his voice down too much; Joe was almost impossible to wake up once he was asleep. He took a drink of his eggnog, before crawling over to the tree.

Earlier they had decided that they would put the Christmas presents underneath it, even though there was still a few weeks before December 25th was actually on them. But there was one present he and Barry had been dying to give Iris, and he couldn’t wait any longer.

After grabbing the box from where he had hidden it, Sebastian turned back to face Iris. “This is from both of us,” he told her, holding the small box out.

Iris frowned and took the present from him. “I thought we weren’t doing early presents this year,” she said, unfastening the ribbon regardless.

Sebastian huffed and reached for the present again. “If you don’t want it, I can take it back,” he offered, making Iris laugh and move the present out of his reach.

“Wait,” Iris said, pausing in her unwrapping -  _ again.  _ “If this is from both of you, does that mean I only get  _ one  _ present?” Sebastian rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything as she continued opening the present. “I swear, I’m not even sure which one of you is getting cheap in their old age. One prese…”

She cut herself off mid-word as her eyes fell on the present she had just unwrapped. To the ordinary person it wouldn’t have seemed like much - just a plain gold band - but both Sebastian and Barry knew how much the symbolism meant to Iris.

“How… My mother’s wedding band?” she murmured, reaching out and reverently picking the ring and the chain it was on from the box.

Sebastian smiled regretfully. “A replica,” he corrected her. There was no way he would have been able to find the original since it had been lost over a decade before. But between them, he and Barry had managed to find a pretty good imitation. “You were devastated when you lost the real one.”

Tears were freely falling from Iris’s eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice as she threw her arms around her best friend, hugging him tightly. “You remembered,” she whispered, pulling back a little and wiping at her cheeks. 

“Of course,” Barry replied, gently taking the necklace from her hands and unfastening the clasp. “There,” he added once it was fastened around her neck, “back where it belongs.”

Iris sniffled and ran a finger over the ring once more, before looking back at him. “Now my gift sucks in comparison.” Barry’s arguments that it didn’t matter fell on deaf ears as Iris moved over to the tree, grabbing two presents. “Unlike some people, I didn’t do a joint present,” she joked, handing them both other.

Sebastian stuck his tongue out and dove straight into unfastening his gift. A collector’s edition horror movie box set that made the alter ego very happy, and the primary groan mentally. 

Barry took a little bit of time opening his gift, and he eventually uncovered a new microscope.

“See,” Iris complained. “Lame.”

Barry frowned and set the microscope to the side. “I love it,” he assured her, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. “They’re perfect.”

***

Barry was going to pass out. Sitting in front of the evidence he had collected over the years about his mom’s murder, the speedster could barely catch his breath. 

He’d always known he hadn’t been hallucinating or dreaming that night. The primary had always insisted that there had been man inside the lightning which had come in through their living room window. Even though Sebastian had backed up his story, but he hadn’t been able to convince anyone else. No one would have believed an eleven year old boy with an ‘imaginary’ friend.

But now, everything Barry had been picked on for believing in was right. The doctor at Mercury labs had been attacked by a metahuman who could move at superspeed, and like to wear a yellow suit.

The man who had murdered his mom was back, and apparently Joe had known it for weeks but didn’t tell him.

“I know he was trying to protect us and Iris,” Barry whispered, “but I still can’t believe he didn’t say something.”

Sebastian didn’t reply, mostly because he didn’t have to. Barry knew exactly how the alter ego felt; he could feel the anger and betrayal seeping through him so clearly he could barely tell if it was his own or Sebastian’s.

The night his mom had been killed had been the only time in their life that Sebastian could remember feeling outright terrified. So terrified that the alter ego hadn’t been able to do anything, other than stand at the bottom of their stairs, screaming for their mom as she was terrorised by the lightning.

“Sebastian!” Iris’s voice yelled, making the alter ego jump as he was roughly pulled out of his memories.

When he saw it was only Iris who had interrupted him and not Singh or Joe, he growled and ran a hand over his face. “Jesus, Iris,” he grumbled. “Did you have to yell?”

She laughed and stuffed her hands in his pockets. “I did knock,” she pointed out, “and tried to call you, like ten times. You were in a world of your own. What were you…” She trailed off as she looked at the evidence board and answered her own question. “Your mom’s case.”

Barry sighed and slumped back down in the seat, now that they weren’t in any real danger of having a heart attack. “I used to study this board everyday,” he whispered.

“I remember,” Iris replied, sitting on the edge of his desk and glancing over at the board. “I used to have to lure you away with the promise of pizza and pretty boys. I haven’t seen it so much lately.”

“That’s because I haven’t looked at it as much as I should have since I woke up,” Barry said, glancing back at the board, before pulling the cover down; it wouldn’t do for anyone else to walk in and see what he liked to do in his spare time.

When it was sufficiently covered, he glanced back over at Iris and for the first time, realised she was practically bursting with excitement. “Are you okay?” Sebastian snickered. “You look like you’re going to give yourself an aneurysm.”

Iris laughed and finally let out the energy she had been building up, blurting out, “Eddie asked me to move it with him.” Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise, but she wasn’t done, “And I said yes.”

Sebastian jumped to his feet and grabbed Iris in a tight hug, spinning her around before setting her back down. “That’s awesome!” he exclaimed. “You guys sure do move slow, though.”

Iris swatted him on the arm. “It’s been a  _ year _ ,” she pointed out. “Besides you can’t comment about moving slow. When have you ever lived with a boyfriend.”

“I don’t need to,” Sebastian replied with a shrug as he wrapped an arm around her. “I live with someone else, anyway. And he nags so much more than any boyfriend ever could.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Like anyone else could cope living with you,” he muttered, pressing a kiss against Iris’s cheek. “I’m happy for you, Iris.”

“Thanks, Barry,” Iris replied. “Eddie’ll be glad you’re okay with this. He was worried that it would make things awkward between us.” Barry frowned and she added, “He thinks you’re interested in me… romantically.”

Sebastian’s laugh was still echoing around the room almost five minutes later, when he eventually managed to wheeze, “You told him how ridiculous that is, right?”

Iris grinned and wiped a tear from Sebastian’s cheek. “I tried, but he was pretty insistent,” she stated. “He’s gonna be for a bit of a shock when he  _ does  _ realise.”

***

Sebastian tightened his grip around the neck of the bourbon bottle. He took a swig, even as he grimaced at the taste. He had been working his way through the alcohol for over thirty minutes, and each mouthful tasted as foul as the previous one.

“You know that’s not going to make you feel any better,” Joe’s voice said from somewhere to Sebastian’s left, but he didn’t turn.

Instead, he took another drink. “A guy can dream, can’t he?” he muttered, looking down at the ground. “I can’t beat this one, Joe.” Footsteps approached him, but he still didn’t look up. “He’s faster than me. Faster than I ever will be.”

“I don’t believe that,” Joe argued, sitting on the steps next to Sebastian. “You need to believe in yourself and the rest of the guys here. You will beat him, Seb.”

The alter ego snorted and took another drink. “So much faith in me,” he mumbled, before sighing. “There’s something I didn’t tell you guys earlier,” he confessed. Joe raised a questioning eyebrow, “Back at the stadium, when I was fighting the man in yellow, he acted like he knew me.”

“You mentioned that,” Joe pointed out.

Sebastian huffed and rolled his eyes. “No, I mean, he knew  _ me.”  _ Joe inhaled sharply. “I don’t know how, but he knew he wasn’t fighting Barry. He called me ‘Sebastian’.”

For the first time since Joe had arrived, Sebastian looked up just in time to see Joe’s eyes widen in surprise. “How is that even possible?” he asked in disbelief.

“I have no idea,” Sebastian shrugged helplessly. “He was acting like we knew each other…”

Joe frowned, drumming his fingers against the step as he thought. “But the only people who know about you are me, Iris, the guys in Starling and the team here.”

“Exactly. But there’s no way that’s possible.”

The police officer opened his mouth, before snapping it closed as he thought better about what he was going to say. Instead, he said, “Can you be a hundred percent positive about that, though?”

Both Barry and Sebastian’s instinctive reactions were to argue that, yes, they were sure that none of their friends could betray them like that. But instead of arguing with Joe, Sebastian just shrugged his shoulders and muttered, “I don’t know anymore.”

He took another swig of the bourbon, before handing the bottle to Joe. “I’m go to for a run or something,” Sebastian stated, getting to his feet. “I’ll be back later.”

***

Iron Heights didn’t really have much going for it in the form of Christmas decorations. As he sat in the waiting room, Sebastian looked around him, trying to find some form of holiday cheer. The closest he could find was a cinnamon scented air freshener. 

Behind the screen, the door opened and he looked up in time to see his dad approaching the glass.

“Merry Christmas, Slugger,” Henry greeted as soon as Sebastian picked the phone up.

Sebastian tried to smile as he returned the greeting, he really did, but it was too hard. 

Henry frowned, immediately picking up on the mood of his son. “You all right?”

The alter ego shook his head minutely, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. “I screwed up, dad.” He didn’t look up; didn’t need to see Henry’s disappointment right then. “After years of searching…” Sebastian ran a hand over his face. “I finally found him. I found the man who killed mom.”

He finally chanced looking up at Henry, who was watching him with equal measures of confusion and curiosity. “The man in yellow, the one in the lightning. He’s out there, and I let him get away.”

Henry tried to speak, but Sebastian was on too much of a self-deprecating roll to stop. “I promised you that I would get you out of here. Every day you spend in here has been because of him. Until now.”

Tears were freely falling down his cheeks, and Sebastian swiped angrily at them. He had  _ never  _ cried. He had always been the one being strong for Barry when the primary had felt like he was going through a breakdown. Now, it was Sebastian’s turn to need the comfort, but Barry couldn’t give it to him; he felt exactly the same.

“Now you’re in here because of me,” Sebastian continued, “and I’m so sorry. I..”

He broke off, covering his face with his hand, trying his hardest to stop the tears. “Son,” Henry’s voice said, trying to get his attention, but he didn’t look up. “Sebastian, look at me.”

As soon as Sebastian heard his own name, his head snapped up in surprise. “What?” he whispered, the flow of tears stopping on their own as he focused on Henry.

An affectionate - no,  _ loving  _ \- smile crossed Henry’s face as he looked back at Sebastian. “Do you honestly think you managed to keep yourself secret from me? From us?” he asked in amusement. “Nora and I have always known about you, Sebastian.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened and he couldn’t breathe again. “Mom… knew?” he whispered.

Henry nodded. “As soon as Barry started talking to himself, we knew there was something special about him,” he admitted, running his finger over the glass between them. “Working out what, wasn’t exactly difficult after that.”

“We never told you, but when your mom found out she was pregnant, she and the doctor both thought we were having twins.” He smiled wide, even as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “We were so excited. She rushed straight out and bought a baby book so we could decide on names for you both.”

“We could only agree on two names for boys,” Henry stated. “I’m not sure what we’d have done if one of you had been a girl.” Sebastian laughed, almost hysterically. He felt like he had slipped into a parallel universe; he couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his dad.

“But then, we went back to the doctor,” his dad said, growing sad again. “Your mom had been getting these weird pains for a few days, but we hadn’t thought anything of it. When they did a scan to make sure everything was okay, there was only one baby.”

Sebastian drew in a breath at those words. He had never before thought that there might be an explanation as to why he was still around, besides Barry having a split personality. 

“When Barry started talking to you and calling you Sebastian,” Henry said, “we always wondered if maybe there was a reason we never had twins. You were always meant to be part of your brother, Sebastian.”

Tears were freshly falling down Sebastian’s cheeks at those words, and he placed a hand on the glass, mirroring Henry’s actions. “Why did you never say anything?” the alter ego whispered. 

Henry smiled a little. “Why didn’t you?” he challenged softly, making Sebastian chuckle to himself. “Your mother and I always trusted that you would tell us when you felt comfortable enough.”

Sebastian ran his fingers over the plastic in front of him, trying to process everything Henry had told him. When he didn’t speak for almost five minutes, Barry decided to speak, “You were going to call… the other twin Sebastian?” 

Henry nodded, tears of his own starting to fall down his cheeks. “That’s why Barry ended up with Sebastian as a middle name; it was our way of honouring you.” He smiled and Sebastian couldn’t help return it. “Your mother had always loved the name,” he whispered. “Just like she loved you, Seb.”

***

“I don’t know, Barry,” Sebastian grumbled. “I don’t feel like celebrating.”

Barry sighed and rolled his eyes. “Since when do I have to talk you into going out,” he murmured. “Look, I know what dad told us is a shock, but if we stay in all night, all you’re going to do is think about that and what happened with the Reverse-Flash.”

Sebastian huffed and folded his arms across his chest. “I still don’t like that we’re calling him that.”

“Spending the evening with Joe and Iris is the only thing that’s going to keep your mind off what happened,” Barry continued, ignoring Sebastian’s jibe that were other things which could work too. “Please just go for an hour,” Barry begged. “If you’re still not having fun, we can leave.”

Even though Barry knew he could have made Sebastian go to the party regardless of whether he wanted to, things were different now. After what Henry had told them at Iron Heights, Barry would feel bad taking control of Sebastian or suppressing him. Maybe his feelings of there being two people inside his body weren’t so out-there, after all.

Everyone had already gathered at Joe’s house when they eventually arrived. “Hey,” Sebastian greeted in surprise when he saw that Cisco, Caitlin and Eddie were all there as well. “What are you guys doing here?”

Iris grinned, waving at him from her seat on Eddie’s lap. “I invited them,” she informed him a little louder than normal.

Sebastian laughed and shrugged his coat off. “How much egg-nog have you had to drink?”

His sister narrowed her eyes at him and waved a hand. “I’ve only had a couple of glasses,” she retorted. “It’s good stuff,” she insisted when everyone laughed at her.

Joe crossed the room and grabbed something out of the only remaining box of decorations. “Now that you’ve finally decided to join the party, you can make yourself useful,” he informed Sebastian, handing him the angel.

The alter ego grinned and moved over to the tree. This was one tradition he loved. As soon as they’d gotten taller than Joe (even if it was by barely an inch) it had been Sebastian and Barry’s job to place the angel on top of the tree. At first they had just assumed that it was Joe being lazy, but as they’d gotten older, both of them had realised that it had been Joe’s way of making sure they fit in with the family.

After setting the angel on top of the tree and flicking the switch, Sebastian took a step back and surveyed the room. They all looked so happy, he thought.

“ _ Maybe we can be happy with them for a while? _ ”

***

 


	12. Revenge Of The Rogues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard Snart returns to Central City with Mick Rory in tow, and Iris moves in with Eddie.
> 
> ***

“Remind me again, how I managed to get tricked into helping,” Sebastian grumbled, leaning back against the nearest pile of boxes and stretching his neck.

Across the room, Iris laughed and continued placing shoes reverently in a brown cardboard box. “Because you love me,” she retorted, very matter-of-factly.

“Debatable,” Sebastian muttered, rolling his eyes. 

When Iris had begged him to help her pack, before she moved in with Eddie in a few days, Sebastian’s instinctive reaction had been to say no. He had to train with the STAR labs team, he had to get fast enough to beat the Reverse-Flash next time he came into town. 

But Barry had insisted that they have a bit of down-time. Sebastian had been pushing himself to the limit for almost a week, not stopping running until the early hours for the morning, and the lack of sleep and energy was starting to affect his performance as a CSI as well.

Volunteering to help Iris pack had been Barry’s way of making sure they didn’t burn out completely.

An amused laugh got Sebastian’s attention and he looked over at Iris in time to see her pulling a very-familiar looking backpack from the closet.

He rolled his eyes. “I thought I’d seen the last of that years ago.”

Iris laughed and leant over, handing it to him. “You stuffed it in there, remember?”

Barry’s eyes narrowed. “You said you didn’t know where it was.”

Sebastian shrugged as Barry opened the backpack. “I lied.”

The backpack had been Barry’s favourite and on the day they had left elementary school, it had vanished never to be seen again. Sebastian had sworn blind that he couldn’t remember where they had left it, but obviously he had somehow managed to both lie to Barry, and keep what he had done secret from him without the primary realising what he was doing.

Inside the bag, Barry found a bunch of stuff he had even forgotten he’d owned. A superhero pencil case and matching lunchbox (which thankfully was empty), and some comics he had bought but never got to read. Because of Sebastian.

“Oh, stop whining,” Sebastian grumbled, grabbing the comics and flicking through them. “These might actually be worth something now. I might have made us all millionaires. You should be thanking me.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Number one on the list of things I won’t be doing any time soon; thanking you, Sebastian.” He looked up to see Iris looking at him, with the biggest grin in the world. “What?” he asked, self-consciously.

Iris shook her head. “Nothing,” she replied. “I just think it’s cute when you fight with each other like that.”

A knock on the door got both of their attention, and they looked up to see Joe standing there. “I’m ordering Chinese. You guys want some?” Both Barry and Iris nodded their heads eagerly, and Joe chuckled. “You best get your wallets out; I’m not paying for you.”

***

No one else was going to get hurt on their watch. Both Barry and Sebastian had made a vow to themselves that they weren’t going to let the people they cared about be used against them, and they intended to see to it that they kept their promise.

Leonard Snart was going to pay for taking Caitlin if it was the last thing the Allens did.

“After tonight, everyone is going to know the Flash exists,” Joe’s voice pointed out through the phone. “Are you ready for that?”

It was an excellent question and one Barry had been asking himself for… longer than he even knew. He didn’t want anyone to know that the ‘streak’ they had been hearing so much about on the new really existed. Sebastian had been insistent that it wouldn’t affect what they did; it might even make it easier if everyone knew.

Now, Snart had taken the choice out of both their hands. The Flash was going to face-off with Captain Cold and Heat Wave, and the whole city was going to know about it.

“ _ I still say he’s hot,”  _ Sebastian thought when they came face to face with Snart and Rory.  _ “If you’ll ignore the irony.” _

Barry mentally rolled his eyes.  _ “He’s a psychopath, Seb. Why couldn’t you be attracted to a normal, non-murderous guy for once?” _

Both Snart and Rory fired their guns, and Sebastian ran around them, ducking behind a bunch of cars to use as a shield. “ _ Where’s the fun in that _ ?” he retorted. The lapse in concentration almost cost him dearly; he caught the edge of a blast of cold and Sebastian went crashing into one of the cars.

“Fuck,” he cursed, running his hand over his bicep. It wasn’t much of a wound - nowhere near as direct a hit as he’d received the last time Captain Cold had been in the city - but it was enough to make pain radiate through his body.

“Sebastian?” Cisco’s concerned voice came through his earpiece. “Are you okay?”

The speedster gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus through the pain. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He wasn’t, and even Sebastian knew it was stupid of him to argue otherwise, but they had bigger things to worry about. He needed to focus on getting the villains to ‘cross their streams’ as Cisco had so eloquently put it.

Something Wells was all too eager to remind him about. “Yeah, totally not as easy as it sounds,” he muttered.

Looking up to see Eddie standing over him was not an experience Sebastian had ever thought he’d get to have; especially not since Iris had laid claim to the police officer long before he could. Of course, it would have been had he been able to appreciate the view more, but Snart and Rory were still bearing down on them, guns - quite literally - blazing.

“Go!” Eddie yelled when he realised the Flash wasn’t moving.

Snapping himself back to the situation, Sebastian used his speed to run Eddie out of the line of fire, before returning back to where he had been.

Things were starting to get out of control. He needed to end this. Now.

***

Leonard Snart had escaped from police custody. If they were being honest, that wasn’t a shock to any of the CCPD.

The fact that the truck had been broken into from the outside  _ was _ , though.

“Any ideas who could have done this?” Barry asked Joe, pulling his latex gloves off as he did. There was nothing on the exterior or interior of the van they didn’t already know. Snart and Rory had been inside, and someone had broken them out.

Joe shook his head, drumming his pen against the notepad in his hand. “The drivers were knocked out by a motorcycle rider, but whoever it was wore a helmet, so there’s no way to tell who it could have been.”

“What about the cab’s video camera? Did it catch anything?” Barry asked, trying to think of every possible way they could identify the attacker. Ever since Snart had attacked an armoured truck the first time he had met the Flash, all trucks carrying valuable equipment and police transporters had an on board dash cam.

“Bullet hole through the camera and the memory card has been swiped,” Joe informed him. “Whoever Snart’s partner is, they knew what they were doing.”

Barry didn’t want to accept that this was the end of the road when it came to capturing Snart. The thief wouldn’t stay quiet, he just knew it. Especially since the Flash had beaten him twice. Barry was certain that Snart would make sure the third round was won by him.

“He’s not going to leave town without a fight,” Barry said, looking up at Joe with wide eyes. The knowledge that Snart was out there, gunning for him (even though he didn’t know the Flash’s true identity) filled him with fear.

Luckily he had Sebastian there to back him up. And his brother was always willing to get into a fight - now more so than ever, apparently. “I’m going to throw his hot ass in the pipeline the next time he comes looking for the Flash,” he stated.

Joe rolled his eyes. “You’re getting worse.” When Sebastian opened his mouth to add further comments, the police officer shook his head. “Never mind Snart. Let Barry finish off here, and then head home. Didn’t you promise Iris you’d do some heavy lifting this afternoon?”

***

“Seriously,” Sebastian groaned, shifting the box he was holding with Eddie. “I remember signing up for packing duties, not removals.” He’d lost count of how many boxes his sister had made them move from her room to the car, but he was sure it had to be in the low hundreds.

From the other side of the box, Eddie laughed. “At least you don’t have to help her unpack on the other end,” he pointed out, before returning to navigating Sebastian down the stairs; why he always ended up being the one going backwards, he would never know.

“I can’t believe you’re not going to be here anymore,” Sebastian whined, turning to Iris as Eddie took the last box out to the car on his own.

Iris laughed and threw her arms around him. “What do you care? You don’t even live here, anymore.”

Sebastian pressed a kiss to her temple. “But drunk me doesn’t know that,” he pointed out. It had been a long time since he’d been able to get drunk, but when he had, Sebastian had found it very difficult to remember that he had moved out of his childhood home. More often than not, he had managed to wake Joe (and sometimes a neighbour) up as he tried to use the wrong key to get in.

“I’m not going that far,” Iris reminded him. “You could always come visit me?”

He scoffed and released her. “I don’t think Eddie would like a rival love interest swinging by every other day,” he pointed out. Joe looked confused at his words, but the police officer didn’t interrupt as Iris gave their dad a big hug.

Then they were on their own. Just the two of them in a house that suddenly seemed much too large.

“It’s going to be even quieter when you go home,” Joe whispered, running his fingers over the back of the couch. Together, they flopped down onto the leather - almost in perfect unison. “Want to order a pizza and watch the ballgame?” Joe asked, nodding to the television where some team Sebastian had never heard of were warming up.

Barry grinned. “Make it  _ pizzas _ , and you’re on,” he bargained, making Joe laugh. “You know, if you ever need someone to come and eat your food, I’m there. Especially, since I  _ technically  _ eat for two speedsters.” Joe chuckled. “And the laundry machines in my building have been broken for, like a month, so…”

Joe scoffed. “I don’t know why you moved into that death trap of a building,” he stated. “You’ve got a perfectly good room here.”

“That would be Sebastian’s fault,” Barry told him. Not that Joe didn’t already know why they had gotten a place of their own. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to humour him for a while.”

Barry paused and Sebastian knew immediately what he was thinking. He couldn’t read his brother’s mind, but he didn’t need to. There would only be one thing Barry was considering right then.

“ _ Don’t even think about it,”  _ Sebastian ordered.

“ _ Oh come on, Seb. Look at how depressed he looks at the thought of being alone here, _ ” Barry tried to reason, before switching to speaking out loud. “It  _ is  _ getting hard to hide the blasting in and out of my apartment at all hours of the night.”

He shrugged his shoulders, trying to aim for nonchalance. “It would make sense to move back in here.”

Joe looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Why do I think Sebastian had something completely different he wanted to say?”

“Because you know me better than he does,” Sebastian grumbled, pushing past Barry’s mind so he could speak for himself.

Joe laughed and wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders, pulling him into his side. “Don’t move back in on my account.”

Barry shook his head. “I’m not,” he argued. “I want to.”

There was no arguing with Barry, Sebastian knew that. And, if he were being honest, he wasn’t as bothered about moving back in as he liked to pretend. But there was no way in hell, he would ever admit that.

He did, however, have one condition if they were to live back at home again. “You can’t complain about me bringing guys back here, though.”

The police officer’s laughter echoed through the room. “Not a chance. Every boy who walks through that door gets the same scrutiny they always have. I don’t care if you’re an adult now. If they can’t handle knowing I have a gun collection, they shouldn’t be dating my boy. Plain and simple.”

***


	13. The Sound And The Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pied Piper visits Central City, and endangers the Flash's public reputation.
> 
> ***

Living back at home was nowhere near as bad as Sebastian had expected. Joe had been respectful of the fact that his son was actually an adult and didn’t need to be treated like a little kid.

Waking up to the smell of breakfast cooking was one of the many reasons he couldn’t complain. Especially after a night of particularly wild sex with… Sebastian had no idea what the guy’s name was. 

“I thought you said you lived alone,” the guy said, pushing himself upright and looking down at Sebastian.

He rolled his eyes. “I lied,” he said simply, getting up and throwing the guy’s jeans at him. “It’s my dad. He’s a cop and he was working last night.” Which was exactly the reason why Sebastian had been pretty sure he could get away with taking someone home.

Blue eyes widened in surprise. “A cop?” he hissed, dressing quickly. “If I walk out that door, he’s going to kill me.”

Sebastian nodded his head in agreement - there was no point in arguing since the guy was right. “Which is exactly why you need to go now.” The guy took one step toward the door, before Sebastian blocked his path. “Not that way,” he said, nodding toward the window.

“You’re insane.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Probably. My sister’s room - the one that way,” he pointed towards the right, “is overlooking the garage. You can jump onto that and follow the driveway. If Joe is cooking it means he’s in the kitchen, so you better make sure you don’t go the wrong way.”

The guy continued looking at him like he was going crazy, before he finally decided to get with the picture and do as Sebastian instructed. It was only when he disappeared out of sight that Sebastian remembered his name had been Tony.

As he’d predicted, Sebastian found Joe in the kitchen. Standing with his back to the door as he poked at the bacon, he was pretty sure he had gotten away with bringing Tony home.

Of course, that dream was shattered when Joe said, without even turning around, “I take it your new friend didn’t want to stay for breakfast.”

***

Even though it annoyed him more than he could possibly say, Harrison Wells had to keep up the pretence of being in a wheelchair right up until the front doors of his house closed behind him.

He didn’t have any neighbours, but that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be prying eyes watching his every move. Harrison didn’t trust that one of the STAR labs team hadn’t followed him home.

From the moment he had made the decision to return to Central City, Harrison had made the decision to keep everyone as far aware from his home as possible. He was pretty sure that he would snap and thrust his hand through someone’s chest if he had to pretend at home as well.

Standing with a flourish the second the doors closed, Harrison moved swiftly through the house, snatching up a remote control and switching on his stereo, just as the fire roared to life.

Everything seemed so primitive. It had been hard to adjust to how  _ slow  _ everything was; and that wasn’t even taking into account his having a loose connection to the speed force.

The sooner he got  _ home _ , the better.

“Gideon,” he called out to the AI. Harrison had installed her as soon as he’d bought the house; if he was going to be stuck here, he sure as hell wasn’t going to be without at least  _ some  _ home comforts.

“Yes, Doctor?”

“Bring up the results from Farooq Gibran.” 

Harrison took a sip of his drink as his eyes skimmed over the information Gideon had displayed. Farooq - Blackout, as Cisco had dubbed him - seemed so promising. He had managed to split the Allens and strip one of them of the speedforce. Something Harrison had been trying to do for decades.

He had been sure that the answer had to be in Farooq’s blood, somewhere. Every other meta who had been affected by the particle accelerator had shown significant changes to their DNA.

Only Farooq’s DNA was showing as completely human. There was nothing to indicate that he possessed any kind of power at all. Not to mention how he had been able to sap Barry’s powers from him.

With a snarl, Harrison dismissed the pages Gideon had found. Analysing the information had been a long shot, but it had been an opportunity Harrison would have stupid to ignore.

And if there was one thing he was, it most definitely wasn’t stupid.

The sound of his cell phone ringing distracted his attention, and he frowned when he looked at the caller ID. It was blocked, but that wasn’t unusual. These days, most cold-calling companies had learnt to shield their numbers from the people they were harassing.

Yet another thing he detested about 2015; cold callers still existed, and it wasn’t illegal.

When silence greeted him when he answered, he scowled and cancelled the call, dropping the call to the counter. Someone was playing mind games with him. 

Using his superspeed (the little he could still access), he moved across to a hidden panel in the wall and slid it open, pulling out his handgun. He didn’t like them - again, he thought they were primitive - but considering how temperamental his speed had been, the gun was an unfortunate necessity.

He had barely cocked the gun, when the glass roof above his head shattered.

***

Hartley Rathaway looked like the type of person who would attack someone in a wheelchair, Sebastian decided.

**“** _ What happened to you being attracted to the bad boy types?”  _ Barry asked and Sebastian had to force himself to not roll his eyes.

“ _ Rathaway’s not a bad boy,”  _ he retorted.  _ “He’s even more of a psychopath than Snart. At least Snart has the body to go along with the smarts. _ ”

“Hartley Rathaway possesses one of the finest scientific minds I’ve ever encountered,” Wells explained to them.

Beside him, Joe tilted his head curiously. “Any ties to Rathaway Industries?” 

Wells nodded. “His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it and Hartley was set to inherit the throne.”

“What happened?” Barry asked. Both he and Sebastian found it a little hard to believe that anyone would turn their back on that much money.

“He came out to his parents,” Caitlin said simply. “They didn’t feel the same way that Joe feels about you.”

Barry’s eyes widened in surprise and he looked around at Cisco and Doctor Wells. Sebastian telling Caitlin  _ months  _ ago had been one thing; but the rest of them knowing, that was something he wasn’t sure he was ready for.

Not that either of them looked amazed by what she’d said. In fact, it looked like… “You already knew,” he observed.

Wells nodded and Cisco laughed. “Sebastian leers at every attractive guy he walks past. Dude couldn’t keep it secret if he tried.”

“Hartley was brilliant,” Wells continued, clearly determined to not let them get distracted. “I couldn’t have built the particle accelerator without him.”

Cisco nodded as though he agreed with Wells, before adding, “It’s a shame he was such a dick.” Barry frowned and he elaborated, “He was Doctor Wells’s favourite and had no qualms about making sure you knew it. He called himself the Chosen One.”

Caitlin smiled sadly and placed a hand on Cisco’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “He was a pretty challenging guy to work with,” she agreed in her usual diplomatic way.

***

Hartley Rathaway was one of the easiest bad guys Sebastian had caught since he’d woken up with superpowers. It had barely taken more than five minutes.

“ _ Do you get the impression it was  _ too  _ easy?”  _ Barry asked as they escorted Rathaway through the main building to the elevator.

“You know, being scooped up by a guy in head-to-toe leather is a long time fantasy of mine,” Rathaway purred, leaning closer to Sebastian and practically nuzzling his shoulder. “Thanks for that,” he whispered.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, and shoved Rathaway back a step. “Well, get whatever ideas you have out of your head. This is the only form of contact we’re going to have.”

Hartley pouted, but didn’t reply as the elevator doors opened and they found themselves face to face with Cisco and Caitlin. “Well, well, well, the gang’s all here. I’ve got give you credit, you lasted longer than I thought you would, Cisco.” When Cisco didn’t react, Hartley turned his attention to Caitlin. “Doctor Snow. You know, I never did get that wedding invitation.”

A pained look crossed Caitlin’s face and Sebastian snarled, lashing out and hitting Hartley on the back of the head before Barry could stop him. “Shut the hell up!” he snapped.

Caitlin threw him a thankful look, before turning her attention back to the device Cisco was holding out to her. “The scanner is detecting foreign metallic objects in your ears,” she stated, quickly reading the data display.

“Take ‘em out,” Sebastian ordered.

Hartley sighed and rolled his eyes. “I can’t. I suffered head trauma when STAR labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without them, I’m in pain you can’t even imagine.”

At that point, Sebastian decided he was bored of talking and it was time to put Hartley where he belonged. In prison with the rest of the meta-humans. He didn’t even bother listening to him as he tried showing off with how much he knew about their containment system.

Rathaway was locked up in prison where he belonged. That was all Sebastian cared about.

***

Barry really didn’t know why people complained about him being late all the time. He was pretty sure they were exaggerating. Iris had called, asking to meet him at Jitters at six, and he had been there since five-thirty waiting for her.

_ “We usually  _ are _ the last one to arrive _ ,” Sebastian pointed out.  _ “Besides, if Rathaway hadn’t been caught, we would still be at STAR labs _ .” 

His brother’s mention of Rathaway made Barry remember the admission that had followed the Pied Piper’s capture. Harrison had known there was a risk that the particle accelerator could explode, and he hadn’t done anything about it.

“No,” Iris whined, approaching the table he was sitting at and dropping into the chair opposite him. “ _ I  _ am having the worst day ever. We can’t both be having the worst day ever.”

Barry laughed and leant back in his own chair, folding his arms across his chest as he regarded his sister.

“I was looking forward to getting some solid complaining in,” she added, snagging his drink from where he’d discarded it and giving it a sniff. He laughed again when she pulled a face; the one thing they had never agreed on was how coffee should be served.

“Fire away,” Barry offered, taking his drink back with a pout. She could get her own, since his clearly wasn’t good enough for her.

“Okay,” Iris said, taking a deep breath; that was when Barry realised he was going to regret what followed. If she needed that much oxygen to rant, it was going to be a big one. “Turns out the real reason CCPN hired me is because they think I have some kind of connection with the Flash.”

That surprised Barry, since Iris hadn’t written about the Flash for months, but Iris wasn’t finished.

“And I’ve been dumped with Mason Bridge, who is a  _ legend _ .”

Barry nodded his head. “I remember,” he reminded her. “You wouldn’t stop talking about him at one point.”

Iris scowled. “Well, I feel like I owe you an apology,” she retorted. “He’s an absolute dick, who told me I’m a worthless, talentless millennial.”

Her harsh words - aimed at a man she had once considered her journalism hero - hit a little too close to home for Barry and he couldn’t help mutter, “Sometimes the people we admire aren’t who we’d like them to be.”

She groaned and let her head fall to the table with a bang that made Barry wonder if it had hurt. “I’m screwed,” she complained.

“No,” Barry argued, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. When she looked up, he continued, “If this Mason guy doesn’t see what a talented journalist you are, he’s obviously not as clever as he thinks he is. Pulitzer or not.”

Iris grinned and placed her hand over his. “Thanks, Barry,” she whispered. “You’re a much better listener that Seb is. He would have suggested I throw a slushie in Mason’s face or something.”

Sebastian smirked. “That’s always an option.”

***

Barry’s ears were still ringing two hours after facing off against Hartley on the bridge. Doctor Wells had used the STAR labs satellite to alter the frequency of each car’s satellite radio, which had counteracted the frequency which had been emitting from Hartley’s gauntlets.

Caitlin had assured him that the ringing would stop, but it had been a few hours now, and he was still having a hard time keeping his voice at a normal volume when he spoke. Something Cisco thought was  _ hilarious _ .

Wandering around the city, it was impossible to find a place where people weren’t talking about what had happened with Hartley and the Flash on the bridge. He tried to not listen to what they were saying, but it was almost impossible when  _ everyone  _ was loudly voicing their opinions.

_ “The people in this city are never happy,”  _ Sebastian grumbled.  _ “No one died and we stopped Hartley from hurting anyone else.” _

For once Barry actually agreed with his brother. He knew that Hartley had caused a lot of damage, but there had been no lives lost, and the Flash had saved the day.  _ “Apparently, we can’t please everyone.” _

They eventually came to a stop in front of Central City Picture News. To say it was getting late in the evening, the news office was bustling with activity. They clearly had a huge breaking news story, and it didn’t take a genius to work out what that would be about. 

_ “Maybe we should just go home,”  _ Barry thought, trying to spot Iris through the windows. He couldn’t see her, but knew it was very unlikely she wouldn’t be there.

Sebastian rolled his eyes.  _ “We’re here, _ ” he muttered. “ _ The least we can do is say hi. She shouldn’t be at work so late, anyway.”  _

He pushed the door open before Barry could stop him, and was immediately hit with a wall of sound. Occasionally he heard the word  _ Flash  _ and knew that they had been right about the subject of CCPN’s big news story. 

A group of people, who appeared to be studying a layout board, moved and they could finally see Iris sitting at her desk, looking like she belonged there, surrounded by journalists.

“ _ If you’re so worried about the Flash’s reputation, we could always hire her,”  _ Sebastian said, and Barry frowned slightly. Before he could ask what he meant, his brother continued,  _ “If she knew we were the Flash, she could be our publicity liaison. She could help calm the public when someone like Hartley attacks.” _

Barry shook his head. He didn’t bother responding out loud. Instead, he turned his attention back to Iris. “Knock knock,” he said with a smile, coming to a stop next to her desk.

Iris started in surprise and sharply looked up from what she had been working on. “Barry!” she exclaimed, jumping up and throwing her arms around him in a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”

“We were in the neighbourhood, and thought we could walk you home,” Barry offered.

A regretful smile appeared on Iris’s face. “I’m sorry,” she apologised. “Everyone is going crazy over what happened with the Flash on the bridge. I’m trying to do damage control, and stop them writing about him being a menace, but it’s not going very well. He’s a hero, they need to…”

“West!” an older man yelled from across the office and Iris scowled briefly, before plastering a grin on her face.

She pressed a kiss against Barry’s cheek. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, before turning on her heel and dashing away from them.

“ _ Like I said. An amazing public relations officer _ .”

***


	14. Crazy For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein drunk!Caitlin introduces the world to the amazing singer that is Sebastian Smythe.
> 
> ***

_“If I had to choose a superpower, I’d probably pick teleporting,”_ Sebastian stated as he got up from the table and heading over to the bar.

He had managed to convince Caitlin it would be a good idea to check out a few of the bars their metahuman-of-the-week, Shawna Baez and her criminal boyfriend liked to frequent. They had been to a few before Barry had decided he couldn’t deal with any more dive bars and announced that this would be their last one.

Annoyingly enough it was a karaoke bar, and if there was one thing Sebastian couldn’t deal with, it was bad karaoke.

 _“What’s wrong with super speed?”_ Barry asked, and Sebastian could practically _hear_ the pout.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and slipped past a couple to find a spot at the bar. _“That’s_ your _superpower. I want one of my own,”_ he decided, leaning on the bar and trying to catch the eye of the bartender.

The barely-old-enough-to-work-there girl was on the other end of the bar, chatting with another girl her age. It didn’t look like she was taking an order. Her friend was the one who noticed Sebastian first and eagerly nudged the bartender, pointing in his direction with a grin. The young girl followed her gaze and immediately blushed when she saw who was trying to get her attention.

Her friend said something Sebastian couldn’t hear from where he was standing, and the young girl smoothed down her hair, looking to the other girl for final approval.

Before she could pull herself away from her friend, Sebastian heard a very familiar voice calling Barry’s name through the speaker system of the club. Slowly he turned around to see that, yup, Caitlin was on the stage and waving her hand, beckoning him closer.

“ _Not a chance_ ,” Barry stated before Sebastian could even think about moving away from the bar. “ _I know what you’re like on stage. Once you get up there, you’ll want to stay and we’ll be here ’til closing.”_

Sebastian just laughed and made his way toward the stage. “ _Come on,_ ” he bargained. “ _I haven’t been on stage since Regionals Senior Year. I’ll only stick to one song, I promise.”_ He had already reached the stage by the time Barry grudgingly agreed to let his brother get his way; he really did love performing, after all.

Caitlin was giggling away next to him as he straightened the second microphone and he couldn’t help grin along with her. It felt like a lifetime since he had been on stage and he knew that, if he had his way, he would be more than happy to stay there all night.

But he’d promised Barry he’d be good; no need to embarrass all the people who couldn’t sing.

The music started and Sebastian instantly recognised it as Summer Nights from Grease. It wasn’t his favourite musical - that honour was jointly reserved for Rent and Wicked - but he certainly knew the words well enough to not need the screen’s assistance.

***

True to his word, Sebastian only stayed on the stage for one song. Caitlin had tried to convince him that they needed to sing more together, but the fact that she was wasted and couldn’t hold a tune, made him decline and decide it was probably better for everyone if he got her home.

The waitress was back down the opposite end of the bar, talking to the same girl as before. Only this time, she wasn’t interested in coming to Sebastian’s aid when he tried.

Just as he was about to lose what little patience he had and duck out of the bar without paying, he felt someone step up beside him. “Hey, Stevie? Can my friend tap out?”

The words immediately got the bartender - Stevie’s - attention and she nodded, pulling herself away from her friends finally.

“I would say thanks, but now I actually have to pay,” Sebastian said turning to face his helper.

He was a little surprised when he saw that the man standing beside him was a reporter with CCPN; Sebastian never forgot a pretty face, and the asian man standing beside him, was most definitely pretty. Sebastian just couldn’t remember his name.

“Well, I’d say it’s a good job I intervened,” he said, laughing as Stevie placed the bill on the bar in front of Sebastian. “The last person who ducked out without paying was hunted down like a dog, until he coughed up.”

Sebastian laughed and dropped a couple of notes onto the receipt, handing it back to Stevie, who didn’t look impressed when she saw how rubbish the tip was; hey, he liked to reflect the service, give him a break.

“In that case,” Sebastian said, turning fully on the stool to face his saviour, “thank you for saving me from a fate worse than death.”

The smile never budged from the man’s face. “You’re welcome, Barry.” When Sebastian frowned, wondering how he knew their name, he reminded him that the crowd had been chanting his name with Caitlin earlier. “I’m Li,” he introduced, not waiting for prompting from Sebastian. “So, was that your girlfriend you were singing with earlier?” he asked, clearly trying to make his question sound casual, but not quite managing it.

Sebastian scoffed and shook his head. “Definitely not,” he insisted firmly. “Far too female for my tastes.”

 _“I don’t know how it’s possible, but you’ve gotten more blunt over the years_ ,” Barry stated.

A relieved look flittered across Li’s face. “Thank god for that, otherwise this would have been really awkward.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow and Li continued. “I was going to ask for your number.”

It wasn’t the first time Sebastian had been asked for his number - many a one night stand had asked for it so they could see him again. None of them had ever received it. Li was the first person he’d ever wanted to tell the ten digit number to.

Which was why it felt so weird to find himself doing exactly that, and telling the number to Li. A quick missed call made it clear that Sebastian had given him the right number and meant that he now had Li’s.

Caitlin chose that moment to step up to the bar, looking decidedly more green than she had earlier. “I don’t feel good,” she murmured, swaying a little bit.

Sebastian immediately jumped to his feet and went to steady his friend before she passed out. “It’s okay. We’ll get you home,” he assured her, before looking up at Li with a regretful expression. “I’m sorry, I should probably…”

Li waved his hand, dismissing Sebastian’s apology. “Don’t worry about it. She needs your attention more than I do right now. Call me?”

“Definitely,” Sebastian agreed with a nod and smile, surprising himself by how much he actually meant what he was saying.

***

Caitlin’s apartment was as neat and orderly as Sebastian would have expected. As he walked her through the building, not letting go of her in case she lost her balance, he could see touches which seemed out of place for the doctor. A sports memorabilia item here, or a men’s jacket hanging on the hook there.

They were Ronnie’s, he realised sadly as they reached her bedroom and he spotted the pictures dotted around the room.

 _“They look so happy,”_ Barry thought sadly.

Finally feeling comfortable enough that she wouldn’t fall over without his assistance, Sebastian released his grip on Caitlin and stepped back as she started taking her heels off. He didn’t take his eyes off her, though; she was wobbling pretty dangerously.

“So, are you gonna call him?” she asked, her voice slurring a little but not as much as Sebastian would have expected considering how much alcohol she had consumed.

Sebastian knew exactly who she was talking about, but considered pretending he didn’t. Telling her the truth meant talking about his _feelings;_ something Sebastian Allen had never been all that good at.

But, then he reasoned with himself, Caitlin was so drunk there was probably no way she’d remember their conversation, anyway.

“I think so,” he admitted, taking a step around Caitlin and helping her with the zipper on her dress. “He’s pretty cute, don’t you think?”

Caitlin nodded her head seriously, stepping out of the dress as soon as she was free of it. “He _was_ cute,” she agreed. “You’re cute, too.” Sebastian laughed and moved across the room, grabbing her pyjamas from where they were lying on the bed. “You’d both look cute together.”

When she was dressed in her pyjamas, Sebastian ushered her over to the bed. “Did you sneak a peek?” Caitlin asked suddenly, the look on her face suggesting that she’d only just realised he had helped her get changed.

Sebastian smiled and urged her into the bed. “I wouldn’t be much of a hero if I did, would I?”

The doctor waved her hand, almost managing to hit him in the face in the process. “It’s okay if you peeked a little,” she assured him, resting her head on the pillow. “I know you’re gay, remember?” She dropped her voice to a stage whisper, and Sebastian laughed lightly.

“Drink lots of water,” he instructed, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Before he move too far away from her, Caitlin reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” she asked, patting the bed beside her as she did.

Sebastian felt shock rush through him, but he still agreed to stay with her. Purely to make sure she didn’t get into trouble in the middle of the night, of course. It was nothing to do with how bad he felt for his friend, honest.

***

He hadn’t meant to stay the night, he really hadn’t. He’d had only meant to stay until Caitlin fell asleep, like she’d asked, but then _his_ eyes had started to feel heavy. The next thing he knew,he was being woken up by the sunlight streaming through the still open curtains.

Leaving Caitlin still sleeping soundly, Barry slipped off the bed and tip-toed his way out of the room. Caitlin’s bathroom was a complete contrast to the rest of the apartment. While everywhere else there hadn’t been a single thing out of place, the bathroom made Barry wonder if there were any makeup or cosmetics products left in the city.

Growing up down the corridor from Iris, Barry had a pretty good idea of how much _stuff_ the average woman used when they were getting ready, but he was pretty sure Caitlin had her beat by a long shot.

“What do you think the odds of her having a spare toothbrush, are?” Sebastian asked, taking it upon himself to rummage through Caitlin’s cupboards.

“Don’t you have any respect for people’s privacy?” Barry retorted, rolling his eyes.

Sebastian shook his head. “Not really,” he muttered, before he found what he was looking for. A sealed toothbrush he was pretty sure Caitlin wouldn’t care if he used.

Feeling better once his mouth was minty fresh, Barry continued his movement through Caitlin’s apartment, until he reached the destination he had been heading for all along. The kitchen.

It was bigger than the kitchen in his apartment had been, but that wasn’t really saying much. In comparison to the almost-chef like kitchen _Joe_ had installed when he’d been promoted from Beat Cop to Detective, it didn’t hold a candle. But, it was compact and probably provided Caitlin with everything she could need to fend for herself.

And, it made finding things to make breakfast, significantly easier for Barry.

The smell of coffee and bacon quickly filled the kitchen, and it wasn’t long before Barry heard heavy footsteps approaching. He looked up to see Caitlin standing in the doorway, still in her pyjamas, with her hair sticking every way imaginable.

“Morning,” Sebastian greeted, being purposely loud and over-chipper.

Caitlin flinched and stumbled into the room, dropping into a chair at the breakfast table. “You are too loud and too happy for this early in a morning,” she grumbled.

Barry winced, and a placed a cup of coffee in front of her. He felt bad for the doctor. He might not be able to get drunk, but he remembered very vividly what it felt like the morning after. It had always been worse for him, because he hadn’t even been the one drinking. His brother had been, and was apparently incapable of saying the word no.

“Are you okay?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet, unlike Sebastian.

Eager hands reached out for the coffee and Caitlin inhaled the aroma deeply. “Let’s just say, I envy your inability to get drunk,” she muttered, taking her first drink. “I don’t really remember much from last night.”

Sebastian smirked and couldn’t resist singing a few bars. “Summer lovin’.”

Caitlin screwed her eyes closed. “Oh, god. That I do remember,” she muttered.

The speedster’s phone ringing made her cry out a little in pain, and Barry quickly answered, trying to minimise the damage. “Hey, Joe, I know I’m late, I’m just…” He trailed off as he listened in horror to what Joe was saying, before cancelling the call and looking up at Caitlin.

“My dad’s been stabbed.”

***

Sebastian was shaking with anger. He didn’t even care that he had managed to capture Shawna, or that her boyfriend was still on the run. Some punk-ass criminal had taken it upon themselves to _stab_ his dad, simply for asking too many questions.

Well, he had quickly seen to that. A quick ‘break out’ had added five years onto Julius’s sentence, and hopefully it got the word out that Henry Allen was protected by the Flash.

 _“Seb, please calm down_ ,” Barry pleaded with his brother. _“Dad is fine now, and we caught Shawna. Everything is okay._ ”

Sebastian shook his head. “I can’t,” he whispered, not even caring that they were in public and he was talking to himself. It was the middle of the day and he was alone in one of the city’s parks - if anyone wanted to judge him, they could so screw themselves. “Dad almost died trying to help us.”

Barry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t usually the one who had to calm the other down. Sebastian was usually the one in control while Barry had the panic attack.

Suddenly, an idea struck him and he grinned, before freezing when he realised what his plan entailed.

Mentally telling himself to suck it up, Barry reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. He had set Sebastian up on a date (sort of) once before, he could do it again.

“What are you doing?” Sebastian asked curiously, but Barry ignored him as he unlocked the phone.

Scrolling through the contacts list, he paused when he reached Li’s name. He could do this, he told himself. It wasn’t difficult. All he had to do, was hit the call button and speak. Piece of cake.

Halfway through his mental pep-speech, Sebastian must have realised what he was planning on doing. “You don’t have to do this,” he said. “I can call Li myself.”

Barry shook his head. “No you won’t,” he argued. “I know you, Sebastian. You’ll find an excuse to not call for weeks, and then it’ll be too late because Li will have moved on. I’m doing this.”

Before he could second guess himself further, or talk himself out of it, Barry hit the call button and put the phone to his ear. He couldn’t believe he was planning on doing this. He was actually planning on setting his brother up with Li. With another man.

“Hello?” the call was answered quicker than Barry had been expecting and he panicked, almost ending the call without saying a word.

Luckily, Sebastian had decided to take the reins back from his brother and re-take control of his love life. “Hi, Li,” he greeted, taking over from Barry. “It’s Barry. I was wondering - do you want to grab lunch?”

***


	15. The Nuclear Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian and Li go on their first date, and bump into an old friend of Sebastian's along the way.
> 
> Suddenly he finds himself with some explaining to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the delay in posting this. I'm in the process of moving over all my fan fiction from livejournal and ff.net. I didn't realise how many stories I had, or how long it would take.

Sebastian had been standing in front of the mirror for almost an hour, and it was driving him insane. He had a date with Li in less than forty minutes, and he still hadn’t figured out what to wear.

Butterflies were fluttering around his stomach and he hadn’t been able to eat anything for hours. He absolutely hated it.

“Is this what normal people feel like?” he asked Barry, making his brother laugh and roll his eyes as he nodded. “God, it sucks!” Sebastian grumbled, focusing on his reflection once more.

He had liked how he looked five minutes ago. Now he wasn’t so sure. Sighing to himself, Sebastian used his speed to change into _another_ outfit. This one looked better; the waistcoat was one of his favourites, and while he wasn’t too sure about the tie, they looked good together.

He rushed downstairs to where Joe was sitting his favourite chair, going through some case files for work. At the sound of Sebastian rushing into the room, Joe looked up and grinned. Silently he gave the thumbs up, before returning back to his work.

Sebastian frowned and looked down at himself. Maybe the waistcoat _was_ too formal for a first date. He should just ditch it, which was what he did as soon as he got to his room. Grabbing a brown jacket and changing his tie, he ran back downstairs.

This time Joe didn’t even look up as he muttered, “If you change one more time I’m going to shoot you.”

The alter ego huffed and jogged down the last few steps, dropping onto the couch with a crash. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he whined, finally managing to drag Joe’s attention away from the file. “I never get nervous before a date.”

Joe chuckled and an affectionate smile crossed his face. “When was the last time you even went on a date?” he asked, and Sebastian had to admit that he had a point. Even before the coma, he had never really had a serious boyfriend; unless you counted the guys he’d had dancefloor relationships with in High School.

“What if I screw this up, Joe?” Sebastian asked, his voice quieter than it usually was.

The police officer sighed and closed the file. “Look, the guy asked you for your number, right?” Sebastian nodded silently. “That means he’s already interested in you. Just be yourself, Sebastian.”

“You mean, just be _Barry_ ,” Sebastian corrected him, running a hand over his face. “That’s who Li thinks he’s going on a date with.”

Joe got to his feet, and moved over to Sebastian, sitting down on the coffee table in front of him. “I’m not even going to pretend I fully understand how this whole thing with you and Barry works when it comes to dating,” he began. “But I’m pretty certain that the person Li met in the bar and has been talking to ever since, is the one that’s comfortable with their sexuality, not the one who would spend all night in his lab, if he could.”

Sebastian chuckled, but Joe wasn’t finished. “Li asked _you_ on a date, Seb. He might be calling you ‘Barry’, but it’s _your_ personality he was attracted to.”

He reached out and patted his son on the leg, before getting up and returning to his case file. “Oh, and you even think about bringing him back here, you’re grounded.”

***

One of the bonuses about being in charge when it came to all things dating, meant that Sebastian was _never_ late. Even he couldn’t work out how Barry still managed to be late, especially considering he could now move at speeds most people couldn’t even imagine.

In fact, he even arrived at the coffee shop where he was meeting Li _early;_ something that was definitely unheard of if Barry was involved.

“ _I’m not late_ that _often,”_ Barry grumbled in Sebastian’s mind, speaking for the first time in hours and making the other man laugh.

Sebastian didn’t have chance to reply, before Li arrived. Wearing a highnecked black shirt, and leather jacket, he looked the very definition of _edible_ , and Sebastian was seriously considering skipping the ‘date’ portion of their evening, heading straight to the ‘good stuff’.

 _“Lucky for you, I’m not going to let you_ ,” Barry stated. _“You’re going on this date; whether you like it, or not. Call it character development.”_

Before Sebastian could reply, Li looked around and caught his eye. There was no backing out now.

“Hi,” Li greeted, approaching Sebastian and smiling nervously. “You look _amazing_ ,” he breathed, his dark eyes giving the other man the once over.

A grin spread across Sebastian’s face. “Likewise,” he returned the compliment.

He started in surprise when Li pulled his hand out from behind his back. He was holding a single flower; it wasn’t anything as cliché as a rose, but it was still surprising to Sebastian.

When he didn’t react, Li frowned and looked down at the flower - an orange and yellow tulip. “Too much?” he asked with a wince.

The sound of his voice snapped Sebastian out of his trance and he shook his head, reaching for the tulip. “No one’s ever bought me flowers before,” he admitted, reverently taking the flower from Li’s grip. “Thank you,” he added sincerely, flashing the other man a brilliant grin.

Li instantly relaxed, which in turn made Sebastian’s nerves ease. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Sebastian in response. “I might have made us reservations.”

Sebastian chuckled and together they left the coffee shop. “It’s a good job one of us thinks that far ahead,” he stated. “I never even thought about _where_ we going to go.”

***

Their reservations were actually at one of Sebastian’s favourite restaurants, Sapphire. He had no idea how Li had known that.

When he asked how Li had known, the other man smirked. “I work with Iris, remember?” he pointed out. “I may have done a bit of research.”

Sebastian couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face. “Really?” he breathed. “That… Has gone to be one of the most romantically stalkery things anyone has ever done for me.” He couldn’t resist, leaning closer to Li and pressing a chaste kiss against the other man’s cheek, making Li blush lightly.

The hostess was waiting expectantly for them when they stepped through the door, and after learning that Li had reservations, was more than happy to show them to their table.

As they sat down and received their menus, Sebastian froze when he heard someone say, “Sebastian?” with a note of disbelief in the voice.

“ _Seriously?”_ Barry’s voice echoed through his mind. He obviously recognised the voice as easily as his brother had. _“After all this time?”_

Slowly, Sebastian turned in his seat and, sure enough, he found himself face to face with Blaine Anderson. “Blaine,” he greeted, trying to plaster on his usual confident smirk. It had been seven years since he had last seen the man he had actively pursued in High School. And if he was being truly honest, he hadn’t even really thought about Blaine for _years._

“ _This could be problematic,”_ Barry pointed out, unhelpfully. “ _He called you Sebastian.”_

Sebastian had to force himself to not roll his eyes. “ _Don’t you think I realised that?”_ he snapped, before turning his attention back to Blaine. “What are you doing here?” he asked. Last he heard, Blaine had moved to New York. Sebastian couldn’t think of any reason why he would be in Central City now.

Blaine smiled, reminding Sebastian why he had been so infatuated with him in the first place. “I work in marketing now.” That surprised Sebastian; he didn’t know what he’d expected the people he’d known in school to have gone into, but he would never have pegged Blaine for the marketing type. “We’re working on a project in downtown Central City.”

His eyes flickered over Sebastian’s shoulder and that was when he remembered that he wasn’t actually alone. As awful as it sounded, he had completely forgotten he was with Li.

“Oh,” Sebastian murmured. “Li, this is Blaine Anderson; we went to school together for a while.” It wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was as close to the truth as Sebastian could be bothered to explain. “Blaine, this is Li Park; he’s my…” He trailed off, not knowing how to explain his relationship with Li; they hadn’t even had one date yet, for crying out loud.

Blaine didn’t need him to explain; he had never been stupid. “Your date,” he stated for Sebastian. “Nice to meet you, Li,” he said, to which the other man responded with the same. A stranger appeared at the table next to Blaine, and he grinned up at him.

“You ready to go?” the newcomer asked, putting his hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

He nodded his head and got to his feet. “It was nice meeting you,” he said, aiming the words at Li, before turning to Sebastian. “I… It was really good seeing you again, Sebastian,” he said softly.

When they were alone again, Sebastian turned back around to face Li. The other man looked as though he had no idea what had just happened. “Okay,” Sebastian said, waving his hand, “ask away.”

There was no way Li didn’t want to know why Blaine hadn’t referred to him as Barry.

To his credit, Li lasted almost thirty seconds before stating, “He called you ‘Sebastian’.”

Sebastian chuckled lightly and nodded his head, taking a piece of bread from the basket. He didn’t want any to eat; he just needed something to do with his hands. “I didn’t go to high school in Central like Iris did,” he began, tearing a peice off. “I went to Dalton Academy in Ohio.” Li’s eyes widened in surprise. “Blaine went to the school for a while.”

“And Sebastian came from…?” Li prompted.

“I was bullied in elementary school,” he confessed. “When I got to High School, I decided I didn’t want to be weak little Barry Allen anymore. So I became ‘Sebastian’,” he added with a shrug of his shoulders. “No one bullied him.” He chuckled softly.

Li chuckled along with him. “So, should I be calling you ‘Barry’, or ‘Sebastian’?” he asked, a smirk playing at his lips.

Surprise shot through Sebastian at his words. It had never even crossed his mind that he could go on a date with Li and be addressed by his actual name, instead of his brother’s.

Speaking off his brother, Barry took opportunity of how distracted Sebastian was and pushed his way to the front of their mind.

“That all depends,” Barry said, putting down the bread Sebastian had been playing with. “Do you want the one of us who’s afraid of bullies? Or,” he continued, reaching out and running his fingers over the back of Li’s hand, “do you want the one who’s not afraid to take you home and show you a good time?”

Li’s eyes widened at the forwardness of Barry, and he wasn’t the only one who was amazed. Sebastian had to fight to not show how amazed _he_ was by Barry’s actions, when he was pushed back to the front of their mind.

To his credit, Li recovered from the surprise pretty quickly and he smiled back at Sebastian. “I’d have to say; I’m sorry, Barry, but I think Sebastian is the one I’m here for.”

***

Joe was going to kill him. Not only had Sebastian taken Li home, but he was also planning on letting the other man screw his brains out.

Oh well, he’d get over it. Probably. Eventually.

“Is it totally weird I live at home?” Sebastian asked, cracking a grin at Li as he hung their coats up.

Li chuckled. “It depends. Have you ever lived on your own?”

Sebastian nodded. “All through college and then up until two weeks ago. My sister moved out, so I decided to take pity on the old man and move back in.”

“That’s not too lame, then,” Li informed him, stepping closer so he was crowding Sebastian’s personal space.

Not that Sebastian was complaining. Li was shorter than he was - at six foot two, that was usually the case - but it wasn’t by much, so he didn’t have to stoop too much to press his lips against Li’s.

“We should probably move this upstairs,” Li whispered against his lips after a few moments. “I don’t think your dad would be two happy if he came home to find us going at it in the hallway.”

Sebastian laughed and took a step back from Li, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him up the stairs. When they had moved back in, Joe had been generous enough to give them half of Iris’s old room to use as a storage for all of Barry’s geeky science stuff (the other half was an office Joe never used).

That foresight meant that what was left in their bedroom now wasn’t too embarrassing when Sebastian had ‘company’. Not that many of them were focused on the decor.

If they cared about that, Sebastian was most definitely doing something wrong.

***


	16. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dealing with Ronnie and Professor Stein, Sebastian heads home. He had a date with Li.

Barry was jealous of Sebastian. He hadn’t voiced his thoughts, but he was pretty sure his brother knew exactly how he was feeling.

The downside about sharing a body with your twin apparently meant that they could feel every emotion you could. Sometimes, Barry actually found himself wishing they were separated again; just so he could actually hide things from Sebastian. But those thoughts passed as quickly as they appeared in his mind. He couldn’t imagine living life without sharing a body with Sebastian.

He was jealous of how much more comfortable Sebastian seemed to be with himself. It wasn’t the confidence he had within himself that was making Barry wish he could be more like his brother, it was the confidence Sebastian had with his sexuality that Barry wished he could emulate.

Seeing Sebastian going on dates with Li, actually having a serious relationship for the first time in his life, made Barry realise exactly what he was missing by being so afraid of who he was attracted to. He was pretty certain the feelings he had whenever he thought about other men were his and not lingering emotions from Sebastian; it was hard to tell sometimes, but he was positive about that one.

Barry hadn’t mentioned anything to Sebastian - sometimes he just kept quiet to avoid being mocked - and if he were being honest, he wasn’t sure how  _ him  _ having a relationship would work.

Even if he knew the truth about them, Barry was positive Li would treat Barry as sleeping with someone with the amount of disdain he would it Sebastian did the deed.

Nope, Barry was in this relationship as much as Sebastian was. 

Even though he was jealous - he wanted to be the one currently curled up on the couch with someone, pretending to watch a movie - Barry couldn’t deny that he was insanely happy that Sebastian had finally come around to his way of thinking. He had been trying to convince the other man that sleeping around wasn’t the way to go and there was nothing wrong with settling down. Not that he would know, of course.

It turned out, he had been right all along. Of course, Sebastian hadn’t actually admitted that, but Barry could read between the lines.

***

Sebastian hated when Barry was right. In fact, he generally tried to avoid admitting that his brother had been correct, unless he absolutely couldn’t.

For someone so shy with everyone else, when it came to Sebastian, Barry could be a smug little bastard when he wanted to be.

He didn’t like to brag - okay, maybe he did - but, Sebastian genuinely did not know how many men he had slept with over the years. He remembered losing his virginity at Dalton to one of the Lacrosse players in ninth grade; he couldn’t even recall his name. He remembered messing around with Gabriel - Joe’s partner - not long afterwards. He remembered a few other random guys - most noticeably Oliver Queen, _obviously_ , but that didn’t count as a relationship \- since then. But other than that, the majority of the guys were just a vague distant memory. If that.

Maybe Barry was right, and he was the male version of a slut. 

_ Well,  _ he thought to himself, glancing over at Li with a small smile,  _ not anymore. _

Sebastian hadn’t had sex with anyone other than the man sitting next to him for over a month. He knew that, to most people, that wouldn’t be considered a big deal. But for Sebastian who, prior to getting struck by lightning, was used to getting laid by at least two guys a  _ week _ \- sometimes at the same time - it was a  _ huge  _ culture shock.

“What are you smiling at?” Li asked, pulling Sebastian out of his thoughts with a jolt.

He shook his head. “Nothing,” he answered. It wasn’t the truth, obviously. But even he knew that there were some things you just didn’t admit to your boyfriends.

Thinking that word made a jolt of surprise shoot through Sebastian. He had never thought he would be someone’s boyfriend; not to mention have one of his own. He was actually amazed by how much he wasn’t actually bothered by the term.

“Do you remember Caitlin?” Sebastian asked, shifting in his seat and, unconsciously moving closer to Li. 

Li nodded, chuckling lightly. “Your friend who can’t handle their alcohol,” he agreed, making Sebastian laugh as well.

“She thought her boyfriend died back when the STAR Labs accelerator blew up.” A horrified look crossed Li’s face and Sebastian ploughed on. “He didn’t. It’s a long, complicated, story, but we managed to find him and eventually bring him home to her.”

Amazement crossed Li’s face. “Wow,” he whispered. “That’s pretty amazing. How is he?”

Sebastian shrugged a shoulder. “Mostly okay,” he answered as vaguely as he could. It wasn’t like he could tell Li that Ronnie and Professor Stein would only be okay if they worked as a team; as FIRESTORM. “I was just smiling because we managed to bring him back to her. She deserves to be happy after all this time.”

The amazement on Li’s face quickly morphed into something Sebastian couldn’t quite put his finger on. He wouldn’t go far as to say  _ love  _ \- he  _ definitely  _ didn’t do the L word - but pride wasn’t quite the right emotion either.

“I thought ‘Sebastian’ was supposed to be the one who didn’t feel emotions that deep,” Li said, placing his hand on Sebastian’s knee. “That sounds like you care pretty deeply to me.”

Whatever response Sebastian had been about to come up with in response was cut off when Li leant forward and pressed their lips together.

All pretence of watching the movie went out of the window and Sebastian turned his full attention to Li. Leaning into the other man’s body, Sebastian ran his tongue across Li’s lips, before pushing past them.

Sebastian didn’t think he would ever get tired of kissing Li.

He ran his hands up Li’s chest, teasingly slipping his fingers in between the buttons of his black shirt. Li groaned into his mouth and Sebastian grinned; he loved being able to pull that sound from someone. It made him even hotter.

Li slipped his hands behind Sebastian’s back and somehow, even Sebastian didn’t know how, he maneuvered them so they were laying down, with Sebastian leaning over Li. 

It wasn’t a position Sebastian normally liked to be in. He could count on one hand the number of times he had ‘topped’ during sex. It wasn’t something he usually liked to experience; having someone inside him was the better feeling as far as he was concerned.

Yet, here he was; changing his standard operating procedure with Li.

This man really would be the death of him. He was positive of it.

Never pulling his lips away from Sebastian’s, Li ran his hands down the other man’s back. Sebastian groaned when he felt those hands cup his ass, and ground his hips down against Li’s.

The jolt of pleasure from the friction made Li pull away from Sebastian’s, gasping for air. “You’re getting pretty good at this,” he whispered, tightening his grip on Sebastian.

Sebastian smirked. “Oh you have no idea,” he murmured. With difficulty, he pulled himself away from Li, drawing a whine from the other man. 

A whine which turned into a quiet moan as Sebastian shimmied his way down Li’s body. His fingers made quick work of the belt and zipper on Li’s jeans, before the other man lifted his hips to let Sebastian pull them down.

He wasn’t wearing underwear.

“Something tells me you had plans for this evening,” Sebastian chuckled, raising an eyebrow and flashing a smirk at Li.

Li smirked back at him, and wiggled his hips enticingly. “What, and you didn’t?” he retorted with a snigger.

_ Can’t argue with that,  _ Sebastian thought to himself. He had been going commando since his first date with Li. Much to Barry’s irritation.

Running his hands up Li’s thighs, Sebastian ducked his head. He pressed a kiss against the head of Li’s cock; lips barely grazing the soft skin there. The soft touch made Li groan quietly and reach down, running his hands over Sebastian’s hair.

Starting at the base, Sebastian ran his tongue up the shaft. When he reached the head again, he flicked his tongue against the slit, tasting the pre-come.

Li groaned and briefly tightened his grip on Sebastian’s hair.

Without saying a word, Sebastian released Li’s cock and shifted back up his body. One of them, he couldn’t tell which, moaned as their lips met again.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” Li stated, blindly reaching down for the hem of Sebastian’s t-shirt.

When they were both naked - Joe was  _ so  _ going to kill him - Sebastian leant back down and captured Li’s lips again. This time, there was no softness in the kiss. This was hot and passionate, and even though their teeth clashed a little, it made Sebastian’s cock twitch.

“I want you in me,” Li whispered, raking his short nails down Sebastian’s back.

The speedster’s eyes flickered closed momentarily and he gasped as a shot of passion flew through him. “Everything’s upstairs,” he grumbled, resting his forehead against Li’s.

A very Sebastian-like smirk appeared on Li’s face. “Lucky for us, I came prepared in more ways that just going commando.” He reached his hand over the back of the couch, grabbing his jacket from where he had discarded it earlier.

Sebastian laughed when he pulled a pocket-sized tube of lube and a condom from the pocket. “Just like a boy scout,” he murmured, throwing the jacket away. “Only more adult.”

Li chuckled and flopped back down against the couch cushions. Sebastian popped the cap off the tube and poured a liberal amount on his fingers. He leant down and captured Li’s lips, kissing him passionately. When Li was significantly distracted, Sebastian ran a finger over his entrance, before slowly slipping inside.

At the initial intrusion Li froze briefly, before relaxing and allowing Sebastian to push in further, before adding a second finger.

Twisting his fingers, he grinned when he drew a groan from Li. Being in a relationship - because who was he kidding, they  _ were  _ in a relationship - with Li for longer than one night, had given Sebastian intimate knowledge of what he could do to make the other man turn into a whimpering mess under his hands.

After a third finger, Li’s fingers curled tightly around Sebastian’s bicep. “Enough,” he ordered. “More.”

Obligingly, Sebastian withdrew from Li’s body and reached for the discarded condom. He was about to open the packet, when Li reached out and silently took it from him. Sebastian had to bite the inside of his cheek to remain still and let his  _ boyfriend  _ slip the condom onto his cock.

Using the last of the lube on himself - really, what was the point in single use lube? - Sebastian shifted on the couch, trying to get into the most optimal position. The couch was comfortable to sit on, but Sebastian had discovered pretty quickly that having sex on it, wasn’t exactly easy.

Not that he couldn’t make it work. He liked a challenge.

He captured Li’s lips again, kissing him passionately to distract him as he lined his cock up and slowly pushed forward. Li’s back arched a little and he tightened his grip on Sebastian’s arms. He didn’t say anything or make ask him to stop; Sebastian knew from experience that Li always needed a moment to adjust. He just needed to wait for the signal.

The grip on Sebastian’s arm loosened until it was little more than a light caress. Sebastian smiled against Li’s lips; he was ready.

Slowly, he pulled his hips back, withdrawing almost completely from Li’s body, before sliding back in. Each movement he made, drew a pleasured gasp from Li and it made Sebastian determined to pull that sound from him.

Yet another thing about him that Li had somehow managed to change. Sebastian actually cared more about Li’s pleasure that he did his own.

Li’s grip on him tightened with each thrust, until Sebastian was pretty sure he would be left with bruises. Well, if it wasn’t for the accelerated healing, that is.

_ I love you. _

The words were on the tip of Sebastian’s tongue, but he couldn’t say them. They were only three words, but they carried such a weight with them. Sebastian had said them to precisely three people - Iris, Joe and their dad - but in a completely different context. He didn’t think he could say them to someone who wasn’t family; he just wasn’t there yet.

Pushing the words out of his mind, Sebastian reached between their bodies, curling his fingers around Li’s cock.

All thoughts disappeared from his mind as they both neared completion, and it wasn’t long before Sebastian felt the familiar stirring of pleasure at the base of his spine. He wasn’t going to last long.

Determined that Li was going to come before him, Sebastian tightened his grip a fraction and increase the pace of his thrusts, angling his hips just right so his cock was hitting Li’s prostate.

With a moan of Sebastian’s name - not Barry’s,  _ Sebastian’s -  _ Li arched his back, coming over their hands and stomachs.

Sebastian mirrored Li’s moan with one of his own and thrust a couple more times, before he too came, with a groan.

***


	17. Out Of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike Mardon makes his presence in Central City known.

Iris grabbed two beers from the fridge with one hand and grabbed the large bowl of popcorn with her other.

Barry was waiting for her in the living room, with the dvd poised and ready to go. He looked up when she entered the room, and flashed her a grin as he got to his feet, taking one of the bottles from her. Always the gentleman.

She returned the grin and slid onto the couch beside him. When he reached out to press play, she placed a hand over his, making him look at her with a curious expression.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow night?” Iris asked.

Barry frowned for a second before shaking his head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

Iris grinned. “Eddie and I are going bowling. I was thinking Seb and Li could join us.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened. “Bowling?” he yelped. “Are you crazy? You  _ know  _ I suck at bowling!”

Barry laughed along with Iris. “Well, lucky for you; I’m pretty good at it,” he reminded his brother.

“Are you sure you’re going to be comfortable being on a date with Li?” Iris asked softly. She knew how uncomfortable Barry was with his sexuality, and she was amazed he had even offered to help Sebastian out in the first place.

The speedster nodded his head. “I’m not technically going on the date with him,” he pointed out. “I’ll help Seb out to make sure he doesn’t suck too much.”

***

Barry was going to make a fool of him, Sebastian just knew it. He was going to make Sebastian look like an even worse bowler than he was in real life, and then he would be the laughing stock.

“Oh my god,” Iris whispered, grabbing his arm and squeezing tightly. “Would you calm down? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Sebastian didn’t know how she managed to do it, but somehow Iris always managed to make him feel better. It was one of the reasons he loved her. “I’m fine,” he insisted, not entirely sure who he was trying to convince.

With timing that seemed too perfect, both Li and Eddie appeared in front of them. “Hey, guys,” Iris greeted, wrapping her arms around Eddie and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Li, this is Eddie,” she introduced them. “Eddie, this is Li; Barry’s…”

“Boyfriend,” Sebastian interjected for her. He was amazed at how easy it was to say the word out loud.

Eddie’s eyes immediately went wide as he looked between Sebastian and Li. “Boyfriend?” he asked when he eventually found his words.

Iris laughed and wrapped her arm around Eddie’s shoulders. “I  _ did  _ try to tell you,” she reminded him, pressing a kiss on his cheek. “Do you believe me now?” she asked.

Numbly, Eddie nodded his head, his cheeks colouring in embarrassment. He was clearly regretting voicing his opinions about Barry being interested in Iris out loud.

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, before Sebastian decided he couldn’t take it anymore. “I thought we came here to do some bowling?”

As quickly as it had arrived, the uncomfortableness disappeared and they were all back to the laughter and familiarity that came from being around good friends.

***

Sebastian was not happy about having to run out on his date with Li; even if it did mean getting away from the damn bowling alley.

He had used the excuse that they would need someone at the crime scene to process; which, he supposed, was technically true, but in reality he was actually ducking out of the date to race across the city as the Flash to save the day. Again.

“ _ I knew you’d get used to being a hero eventually _ ,” Barry said smugly, his voice echoing through his mind as they raced toward the morgue.

Sebastian rolled his eyes - an action which felt really weird at such high speeds - and was about to answer when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Forcing himself to not lose focus - he tended to crash when that happened - he tilted his head to the side and got a full glimpse of what he was looking at.

He was running alongside  _ himself.  _

“What that-?” he said out loud, not able to keep the words in. The other version of himself didn’t answer, or even look surprised as he carried on running. He knew Sebastian was there though; because he glanced back at him before overtaking and disappearing.

The mirror version of him disappearing made him stagger to a stop, panting for breath. Looking around, he tried to figure out where the copycat had disappeared to, but there was no sign of him. In fact, the only people around him were a couple arguing and a woman who was trying to hail a cab.

Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have taken place.

“ _ That was weird _ ,” Sebastian murmured, aiming the words at Barry. If there was one person who was likely to be able to figure out what had just happened, it would be his brother; he was sure of it.

Barry nodded in agreement and shattered any hopes Sebastian had of him knowing what it was, by saying, “ _ I have no idea what just happened.” _

In his ear, his headset beeped and Cisco’s voice came through the line, wanting to know what the holdup was. For a second, Sebastian considered explaining what had just happened, but talked himself out of it just as quickly. How was he supposed to explain to Cisco what had happened, when he genuinely couldn’t make heads or tails of it, either?

“I’m fine,” he answered, cutting off what Cisco had been saying, “Just had to take a small detour.”

***

He should have known it was too good to be true. Letting Sebastian have one night off, to have a normal life, a normal relationship for the first time in their lives, should have been easy. 

Every time something happened that impacted on Sebastian’s personal life, Barry felt like he was letting his brother down somehow. He that was weird, and he couldn’t explain what he felt fully, but he couldn’t help feeling like life would be easier sometimes if they’d stayed separated.

Only he would have needed to keep the speed force, instead of Sebastian, so he was pretty sure even that wouldn’t have worked.

“Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” Joe’s voice asked from the driver’s seat, pulling Barry’s attention away from his thoughts and back into the present.

Barry shook his head and ran a hand over his face. “I’m fine,” he lied, diverting his eyes away from Joe in an attempt to hide from him that he was lying. “Just thinking about this case. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that both brothers got hit by the dark matter wave, and they were both affected in pretty much the exact same way?”

Joe hummed. “I admit, it’s a little unusual, but I don’t think it’s weird.” He paused for a second, before adding with a chuckle, “It does make me wonder what kind of powers Sebastian would have if he were in a different body to you.”

Even though Joe meant his words as a light hearted jest, Barry couldn’t help but feel saddened at the reminder about what had happened with Blackout. When he and Sebastian had been separated, the pair of them had been so focused on what was happening that it had never occurred to them to think about whether Joe would want to meet Sebastian as his own person.

Now, that they were back in the same body, Joe was never going to get the chance to spend time with Sebastian without Barry around, and vise versa.

Inside his mind, Barry could practically feel Sebastian rolling his eyes, before his brother retorted with, “I’d want to be able to fly. None of this whole, running so fast it feels like flying, but actually soaring through the skies like Superman flying.”

In retrospect, using a recently outed-alien as a role model probably wasn’t the best idea Sebastian had ever had, but luckily for him, a sudden change in the previously sunny climate, dragged Joe’s attention away from their conversation.

“That can’t be normal,” Joe murmured as Sebastian reached over and turned on the radio. With timing that was almost  _ too  _ perfect, the first station he found was just beginning their weather report. A weather report which said that there were clear skies all over Central City and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen.

“Mardon,” Joe stated when he heard that this weather wasn’t how the skies were behaving over the rest of the city.

For Sebastian time seemed to slow down the way it always did when he spotted something happening before other people. In the sky above them - literally, directly above them - a bolt of lightning split through the sky and forced its way through the air, in their car. 

It was aimed straight for Joe.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Sebastian used his speed to unfasten the seat belt and drag his adoptive father from the car, not stopping until they were both safely on the grassy verge across the road.

As soon as they were free of the vehicle, it burst into flames. There was no way either Joe or Sebastian would have been able to survive the blast if they had still been in there.

***

Barry was freaking out. He would be the first person to admit that he wasn’t the bravest person in the world. In fact, he was probably as far from brave as was possible to get.

But even he couldn’t do with standing back and letting people hurt his family. 

Mardon had attacked Joe, in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. Even ignoring all the people that could have been hurt by the explosion, both he and Joe could have gone up in a ball of flame.

That was something he wasn’t going to stand for. He was going to have to do something about it.

Well, he mentally corrected himself, there was something Sebastian was going to have to do about it. Barry still wasn’t ready to fly solo, without his brother’s assistance..

And now, on top of it all, Mardon had  _ taken  _ Joe to god-knows-where. All because they hadn’t been able to stop him the last time they faced off at the police station.

“ _ We need to do something,”  _ Sebastian said, aiming the words at Barry as they walked along the front with Iris.

Barry bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from reacting outwardly.  _ “How do you propose we do that?”  _ he snapped back.  _ “We don’t know where Mardon is and anything we do is going to risk him hurting Joe.” _

“Oh my god,” Iris murmured coming to a stop and looking out over the bay.

Following her gaze, Sebastian couldn’t help mimicking her reaction. Although, his was nowhere near as PG rated as hers.

“Iris,” he said urgently, turning his best friend and grabbing her hands. “You need to get out of here.” Initially when Mardon had instructed her to go the pier, he had been reluctant to let her, and now, standing opposite a man made storm that was brewing, he knew that his gut instinct had been right. Iris was a civilian, and combat was no place for her.

She needed to be as far as away as possible.

Unfortunately for him, Iris was also as stubborn as Sebastian was and refused to budge. “I’m not going anywhere, Sebastian,” she insisted. “That is our dad. We need to help him. Somehow.”

Pulling his phone out, Sebastian quickly dialled the first person he could think of who might be able to help. Cisco. When that call didn’t go through, he swore and re-dialled Caitlin. Thankfully this time it was answered.

“Caitlin,” he breathed in relief. She would do what to do. The sensible doctor could always look at things logically. “There’s a tsunami heading toward the city.” Caitlin fell silent on the other end of the line and he continued on. “How do I stop it?”

It was a stupid plan, and he knew it. But he genuinely didn’t think there was going to be any other way to get Mardon to stop. He was going to take Iris out to hurt Joe, that much he knew, and there was no way he was ever going to let that happen.

“Theoretically, if you can create a vortex barrier along the coastline, a wall of wind, that would be able to sap the tidal wave of its energy before it hits the city.”

Sebastian had no idea what she was talking about, but luckily for him, he had a science nerd inside his brain who understood exactly. “So I need to run back and forth,” Barry summarised for Sebastian. “How fast?”

The answer Caitlin gave, about how she wasn’t sure they could run  _ that  _ fast, wasn’t exactly what Sebastian wanted to hear, but he knew he couldn’t let it stop him. He needed to protect Iris and the city. Even if it meant he had to die trying.

Of course, he was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. That would be unpleasant for all involved.

Cancelling the call, Sebastian pocketed the cell and turned to face Iris. She looked so perfect and Sebastian knew that, if he had been born different - if he had been straight - he would have pursued her with the same amount of passion had Blaine in his senior year at Dalton. She was the love of his life - even if that love was more platonic than romantic.

“For the record,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for almost  a year.” Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was running out of time and needed to hurry things along. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

Iris frowned, but before she could fully question him on what he was saying, he had used his speed to get changed and was standing in front of her in the Flash costume Cisco had designed what felt like a lifetime ago.

He issued one last instruction to Iris - that she go - before he ran off, down the beach to do exactly what Caitlin had suggested. Create a barrier of wind by running back and forth along the beach.

As he moved, people were running for their lives, away from the fast approaching storm, and he probably ran into a few of them, but Sebastian couldn’t focus on them. He needed to focus on getting faster. He needed to create the barrier. Everything depended on it.

Then, as he was running, the strangest thing happened. Again.

It happened exactly like it had earlier. One minute he was running along the beach, the wind rushing past him at an insane speed, and then the next he was in the centre of the city, running along side another version of him.

Unlike earlier, his version of him didn’t seem like he was running for his life. In fact, it seemed to Sebastian, like he was running  _ toward  _ danger instead of away from it. Exactly like he had been when he had first seen the mirage.

Finally unable to take it anymore - his legs were hurting and his lungs felt like they were on fire - Sebastian skidded to a stop. As he did, the other version of him disappeared and he was left alone again.

Taking deep breaths, he looked around him and couldn’t help taking in a deep breath when he saw where he was. Or rather when he was.

Sebastian was in the centre of the city. There was a couple arguing loudly and a woman trying - and failing - to hail a cab.

Just like there had been the first time he’d seen the mirage.

“I don’t think that was a mirage,” Barry stated out loud, looking around them with wide eyes. “I think we time travelled.”

***


	18. Rogue Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turning back time had unforeseen consequences for Sebastian and Li's relationship.
> 
> ***

Time travel. It wasn’t possible. Time travel didn’t exist outside of movies and television. There was no way that humans could actually travel through time.

Logically, Barry knew that. But without the theory of time travel, there was no way to explain how he had been on the beach one minute, trying to protect the city from a giant tidal wave, then standing the middle of the city the next, in the exact moment had been in the day before.

Arriving at the morgue, and going through the motions of processing the scene felt weird to Barry. Especially when he had no idea what had happened, and since he knew exactly where to look to find evidence of who did the crime. It was even weirder than processing a scene he had stopped a bad guy at.

If Joe noticed that there was something different about Barry, he didn’t comment on it.

Which Barry was grateful for. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be accepting of his son’s new ability to time travel. That would make him question everything he knew about the world.

Just like it was doing with Barry.

Harrison Wells, on the other hand, didn’t too freaked out when he realised that Barry knew exactly what everyone else was going to say.

“You ruptured the time continuum,” Wells observed once they were a safe distance away from Caitlin and Cisco.

Barry’s eyes widened in surprise and it was Sebastian who answered, “Yeah.”

_ “How do you even know what that means?”  _ he asked his brother.

“Someone _ made me watch more Doctor Who than I’ll ever admit,”  _ Sebastian snapped, making Barry chuckle to himself.

At the sound of the speedster’s laugh, Wells’s eyes narrowed. It was obvious he wasn’t happy that Barry and Sebastian were having a conversation amongst themselves. “How long?” he demanded, his voice harsher than Barry had heard for a while.

Sebastian folded his arms across his chest. He didn’t like the accusatory tone in Wells’s voice; it wasn’t like he had meant to time travel, after all. Hell, until it happened, he hadn’t even known it was possible. “A day,” he replied. “Give or take a few extra hours. So far everything seems to happening the same way as it did the first time.”

Wells replaced his glasses and nodded his head. “Good,” he murmured. “That’s good. There’s not going too much you’ve messed up yet.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, but before he could demand to know how he could possibly mess things up any more than they were, Wells asked, “How did this happen?”

The speedster shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea,” he answered honestly. “One minute I was running - faster than I’ve ever run before - along the beach. There was this tidal wave-,”

To his surprise, Wells held up a hand, cutting his off mid-explanation with a shake of his head. “No,” he stated. “I don’t want to know details. Who knows that you’ve already changed by telling me that you time travelled; the less I know about the future, the more likely it is to come true, and by extension to not destroy the timeline.”

Sebastian scowled. He might not be the most intelligent person in the world - he knew that he was nowhere near as smart as Barry, and had accepted that fact a long time ago - but even he couldn’t figure out what Wells’ problem was. Surely stopping what happened originally was the whole point of time travel?

What use was going back in time, if you were just going to let things play out naturally, and let the same disaster happen  _ again? _

No, this time, he was going to stop Mardon before things got out control and  _ anyone  _ got hurt.

Regardless of what Harrison Wells liked to say.

***

Wells was not happy when Sebastian arrived back at STAR labs less than half an hour later, with a captive Mardon in tow.

He didn’t voice his disapproval outloud, but he didn’t need to. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention. He still firmly believed that Sebastian should have let him do what he was going to, with no interference from the speedster.

Well, he didn’t know what Mardon had been planning on doing. There was no way Sebastian could have sat by and let that happen.

Even Barry agreed that his actions had been the right thing to do, and he could count on one hand the number of times that had happened.

“I think that’s the fastest you’ve ever caught someone,” Caitlin murmured as she as Cisco headed away from Mardon’s cell.

Sebastian grinned and was about to follow them, when he felt a hand grab his wrist with a grip far stronger than he would have ever thought Wells could produce. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Wells hissed, his eyes flashing in anger.

“Yes, actually,” Sebastian argued, wrenching his arm from Wells’ grip. “I saved this city from being destroyed by a giant tidal wave. I saved thousands of lives.”

Wells sighed. “Be that as it may, you shouldn’t mess with the past - I told you that - it could have disastrous effects on the future.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Well since none of us are from the future, we have no way of knowing if anything has changed, do we?” he muttered, turning on his heel and stalking away. He was going to be late for his lunch date with Li if he didn’t hurry.

Li was sitting behind his desk at CCPN when Sebastian stepped through the doors. He was wearing the same jeans and jacket combo he had been wearing the last time Sebastian had lived that exact moment.

But the heartbroken look on his face was definitely different.

“Hey,” Sebastian greeted, stepping up to the desk and trying to plaster a grin on his face, even though he felt anything but happy. His chest felt tight and it was getting a little hard to breath.

_ “What the hell’s wrong with me?”  _ he demanded of Barry.

_ “You’re afraid,”  _ Barry answered softly.  _ “Afraid of what he’s going to say _ .”

Li looked up from his desk and smiled back at Sebastian - or at least tried; it seemed to be just as hard for him as it was for Sebastian. “Hi,” he whispered, waving his hands and urging Sebastian to sit on the steps behind his desk.

“Is everything okay?” Sebastian asked, hating how timid he sounded. He did not like this whole ‘being afraid’ thing, and it needed to stop immediately.

The other man paused for a second, before he shook his head. “Not really,” he answered honestly. “Listen, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and…” Li took a deep breath. “For this relationship to work, we both have to be honest with each other about who we are, and what we’re feeling.”

Sebastian frowned, trying to act as though there was nothing wrong with what Li had just said. “What do you mean? You know who I am.”

Li raised an eyebrow. “Do I?” he challenged. “Where do you go when you disappear in the middle of the night?”

The other man opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it closed when he realised there was nothing he could say to Li that would sound like a legitimate reason. He could hardly tell him that, when Li was awake, Sebastian sometimes had to duck out to fight crime at superspeed.

“I thought as much,” Li whispered, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “I care about you, Sebastian. I really do. But if you don’t trust me enough to tell me what’s going on in your life, we might as well cut this off now, before either of us get too involved.”

***

Sebastian had never cried over a guy. Ever.

What was the point in having feelings if all it meant was that you were going to get your heartbroken. He had holed himself up in their bedroom for three hours, his face pressed to his pillow as he cried, not even bothering to answer Barry when he tried to coax a reply out of him.

It was only when his cell started ringing at eight, that he finally pulled himself together and answered it. It was Cisco, asking him if he wanted to grab a drink - just the two of them.

Quickly deciding that he was done moping - when did he start to turn into  _ Barry?  _ \- Sebastian had readily agreed and zipped around the house, getting ready in record speed - even for him.

Cisco was already sitting at the bar, beer in hand when he arrived. He looked just as miserable as Sebastian felt. 

It was going to be a fun-filled night; he could already tell.

“Hey,” he greeted, clapping Cisco on the back as he slipped into the seat next to him. “You okay?”

Cisco shrugged his shoulders. “Thanks for meeting me here,” he replied, avoiding Sebastian's question completely. “Even though you can’t get drunk.”

Sebastian snorted with laughter and pulled a face. “Don’t remind me,” he chuckled. “I wish I could though, right now.” Cisco frowned and looked at him in confusion. “Li and I broke up. Well, it wasn’t really a mutual decision. He broke up with me.”

Cisco’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why do I have a feeling you don’t say those words very often?”

“Because he never stays with a guy longer than a week,” Barry interrupted.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed and he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at his brother; the effect was lost when he wasn’t looking in a mirror, anyway.

He was about to say something, when he spotted someone stepping up to them out of the corner of his eye. Both he and Cisco turned to see a tall blonde woman standing next to them.

“Hi,” she greeted when she was sure she had their attention. “I don’t normally do this, but… can I buy you a drink?”

Both Cisco and Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise, but it was Sebastian who recovered first. “Oh wow,” he answered, chuckling to himself. “I”m sorry. I’m flattered, but you’re not my type.”

A slightly irritated look appeared on her face, before she plastered the smile back on it. “Actually, I was talking to him,” she corrected Sebastian, nodding over at Cisco. “I’m Lisa, by the way.”

***

Pausing in the doorway to her brother’s bedroom, Iris paused and looked at him with a frown.

“Was it really you who called me to talk about boys?” she asked, stepping further into the room.

Barry looked up at her, his green eyes wide as he nodded his head. “Sebastian’s refusing to talk to anyone,” he told her, the words sounding strange in his mouth.

Iris’s eyes went wide as she sat down on the bed. “What happened?” she asked.

“Li broke up with him,” Barry answered sadly. Even though Sebastian hadn’t actually admitted it outloud, Barry knew exactly how much his brother had cared for the reporter. 

His sister drew in a breath. “Really?” she asked. “What happened?”

Barry bit his lip. To his surprise, he was actually comfortable talking about Sebastian being in a relationship with another man, but there wasn’t really much he could say to Iris, without giving the truth away about him being the Flash.

“Li knew there was something Seb wasn’t telling him,” Barry answered, trying to not make it obvious that he was being vague about the reason.

Luckily for him, Iris seemed willing to make up her own mind about what he was saying, without him actually having to say anything. “Couldn’t you have just told him about you both?” she asked, running her fingers over the back of his hand. 

Barry felt relieved that she had assumed the secret they had been keeping, was the fact that Sebastian and Barry were totally different people. Her thinking that, meant that Joe’s wishes about keeping her in the dark were still being honoured.

“I tried to convince him,” he lied. “You know how stubborn he can be; Seb was adamant that he didn’t want Li to know.”

The sad look on Iris’s face deepened. “How is he handling it?” she asked, before rolling her eyes at herself. “Besides not talking to anyone,” she corrected herself.

Barry chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “He’ll probably kill me for telling you this, but he’s heartbroken.” Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes. “I think the last person he cared this much for was Blaine.”

Iris sighed sadly and rested her head on his shoulder. “It gets better,” she whispered, clearly aiming her words at Sebastian, not Barry. “I know it sucks at the minute, but trust me.”

For a second, Sebastian pushed to the front of their mind and pressed a kiss to the top of Iris’s head. He didn’t speak; couldn’t find the words that would accurately express how he was feeling.

He had been witness to Iris recovering from a break-up more times than he liked to think about. He hadn’t wanted to experience that himself.

It was one of the reasons why he had avoided romantic entanglements for most of his life. It wasn’t worth the heartache, he was sure of it.

***


	19. All Star Team Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Facing up to reality was not something Sebastian did often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that it's been an insane time since I last posted a chapter, so I will post this and the next chapter tonight. The second should be up within half an hour of this.
> 
> Due to the fact that I can't stand the episode Tricksters, I have removed this completely.

Everything was getting too serious for Sebastian. He didn’t like talking about his problems, or even admitting that he had any to start with. Normally when something came up that threatened to be even remotely serious, he changed the subject and refused to talk about it.

It wasn’t that he was afraid - he didn’t  _ do  _ fear - but he couldn’t handle the reality of most situations.

Of course, because his life was just that kind, things had been gradually escalating recently to the the point that there was literally no way he could avoid the reality of the situation.

The man who killed their mom - the Reverse Flash - was making an appearance in Central City more and more frequently. 

There was no denying that he had a connection with Barry  _ and  _ Sebastian; close enough that he knew they were in the same body.

Really, there was only a handful of possibilities when it came to the identity of the murderer.

Both Sebastian and Barry were pretty sure that Caitlin, Cisco and the guys in Starling City, were innocent of murdering Nora Allen and trying to kill Barry and Sebastian.

As much as he hated to admit it, Joe was right. There was really only person who had the intelligence and patience to pull something like  _ this  _ off without the rest of the world getting suspicious.

He just didn’t want to believe that someone he had thought a friend and mentor would be capable of the actions they were accusing Harrison Wells of.

It may be delusion that was driving him - especially in the wake of seeing what Cisco and Joe had found in his old house - but Sebastian was adamant that he was going to live in denial for as long as he could.

***

Part of Sebastian’s master plan for ignoring his problems was to throw himself into crime fighting as much as he could. Barry dealt with the CSI side of their lives, it was up to him to pick up the superhero slack.

He would be the first to admit that he was starting to fall back into his usual cocky-almost over confident self. It was actually a relief to feel the rush of adrenaline that he had ever only experienced after scoring the winning goal during an important Lacrosse match or holding a Regionals trophy after a victory.

Eddie finally being clued into his identity as the Flash didn’t seem to be helping his ego. If anything, Sebastian felt like he had something more he needed to prove to the detective. He couldn’t explain why, but he had always felt that Eddie had always resented him - whether it was for his relationship with Joe or Iris, he wasn’t sure - but he felt like he needed to prove to Eddie that he was capable of more than it appeared.

Another distraction - albeit, a welcome distraction - was Felicity and Ray Palmer’s arrival in Central City.

Of course, Felicity had been able to tell that there was something wrong with him. Something he wasn’t telling her. Damn Barry for making friends with someone so observant.

When she had suggested that they go get coffee - just the two of them - Sebastian had known immediately that she would want to know what was wrong. He also knew that, if he truly didn’t want to tell her, there is no way Felicity would force him.

But then a little voice in the back of his mind - well, it was Barry, but still - reminded him that Felicity would be one of the few people on the planet who would understand what they were going through.

“You know,” Felicity commented, reaching out to take their drinks off the counter when they were ready, “I left Starling to get away from the mood. You’re supposed to be the happier, funner place.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Funner? he repeated, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

A light blush coloured Felicity’s cheeks as she rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean,” she grumbled, sliding onto a stool. “What’s wrong with you, Sebastian?”

The Speedster sighed and glanced down at his drink, hoping he would find the answers to all his problems mixed in the with the sugar and cream. “I just,” he began, “this isn’t the best time for a visit. Things are hectic here, and I don’t want anyone else being put in danger.”

Felicity frowned, her forehead crumpling a little in confusion, before sympathy replaced it. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here - I mean, other than what I’ve managed to get from hacking into the STAR labs computers - but we’re your friends. You’re putting any of us in danger; any one of us would be here in a heartbeat if you asked, and we’re doing it because we want to, not because we have to.”

Sebastian’s heart tightened uncomfortably in his chest and he had to clear his throat before he could speak confidently without his voice cracking. “I know that, but…”

Shaking her head, Felicity raised her hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. “Even if you don’t want to put us  _ civilians  _ in danger, you could have at least called Oliver. He’s not a civilian, and you know there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for you.”

There was something in her words that made Sebastian pause. She didn’t outright say it, but she  _ knew  _ about what had happened between him and Oliver. He just had no idea how that was even possible. “You know,” he stated slowly. Normally he would never have agreed to keep what had happened secret, but Felicity was his friend and Sebastian had no desire to hurt her, just because he thought Oliver was hot.

Felicity nodded slowly. There was no disgust or hatred on her face, and that shocked Sebastian. “Since you left after helping with Captain Boomerang,” she confessed, making Sebastian’s breath catch in his throat.

She and Barry talked pretty frequently - had done ever since they’d woken up from the coma - but she had never once hinted that she knew that Sebastian had slept with Oliver; a man she clearly loved.

“You… You’re not mad?” Sebastian asked tentatively. He hated how scared he sounded, but he couldn’t help it. After a while, he had started to agree with Oliver that keeping Felicity in the dark was best for her and her feelings. 

A sad look crossed over Felicity’s face and Sebastian immediately regretted asking. He should have just kept his mouth shut, everything would have been better that way. When she eventually spoke, Sebastian was surprised to hear how warm and full of affection she sounded. “I was… surprised at first,” she admitted slowly. “I’d never even considered that Oliver could be bisexual. But, then I started to think about it, and I began to realise the signs. He’s had a crush on you since Barry pushed his way into our lives.”

The blush he could feel creeping over his face was all Barry, Sebastian tried to convince himself.

“I thought about confronting him about it,” Felicity confessed. “But you know Oliver; I’m pretty sure talking about his feelings actually pains him.”

Sebastian laughed and nodded his head. He hadn’t spent much time around the archer - or at least time where they actually had been time to discuss feelings - but even he knew that Felicity was right. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, the words tasting odd in his mouth. “I know how you feel about him; I didn’t want something like this to…”

He broke off when Felicity reached across the table, covering his hand with hers. “You didn’t do anything to me,” she assured. “Oliver and I won’t work. We talked about it  _ months _ ago. Besides,” she added, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, “I’m with Ray now.”

Sebastian was pretty sure that she was lying about being okay with him and Oliver - not that there was much between them, other than sex - but he was happy that she seemed okay with it enough to change the subject.

“Speaking of,” he purred, feeling himself shift back to his usual self, “you have  _ got  _ to tell me all the details about Mr Tal-Dark-And-Handsome.”

***

The last thing Barry expected to see when he got home, after the disastrous five way date between his friends, was Iris sitting on his bed with her laptop. She had changed out of her dress, and was now wearing a pair of his boxer shorts and an old t-shirt of Sebastian’s from Dalton. It was too small for him, but Iris seemed to love it, so they kept it around.

“Are you really staying here tonight?” he asked, shrugging off his jacket and hooking it over the end of the bed.

Iris nodded her head. “Tonight. Tomorrow night. The night after that,” she replied. She paused for a second, biting her lip in thought, before asking what had clearly been on her mind for a while. “Do you think Eddie’s cheating on me?”

“What?” Barry exclaimed, unable to even pretend that he wasn’t shocked by her question. “No way. Eddie’s totally not that kinda guy.”

His sister sighed and leant her head back. “I know that,” she admitted, swallowing thickly. “But, if he’s not cheating on me, I don’t know what else would make him act like he is. I know he’s hiding something from me; if he’d just tell me, we wouldn’t have any problems.”

_ “It’s me,”  _ Sebastian explained to Iris; in their mind of course. “ _ I’m the Flash. Eddie knows, but Joe made us keep it secret from you. I’m sorry, Iris.” _

Barry agreed with Sebastian - that seemed to be happening more and more recently - that it wasn’t fair that Iris should still be kept in the dark. But then he remembered how unsure he was about who he could trust. He was already pretty sure that Wells was the Reverse Flash; he didn’t need to add worrying about Iris into the mix.

Instead of voicing his opinions, he kept silent. Instead, changing the subject completely. “When you say ‘stay here’, you meant in my bed, didn’t you?” He knew that she would always be sleeping in his bed - from the moment she found out that he was gay, she’d had no problems getting changed in front of him, or spending the night wrapped around him.

A grin spread across Iris’s face as she nodded her head. It was obvious that she understood what Barry was doing; changing the subject so suddenly, but he could tell that she appreciated it. “Well, where else am I supposed to sleep? Dad got rid of my old bed.”

Sebastian snorted with laughter and pulled off his shirt, continuing to change into a pair of pyjama bottoms - when he was with Iris was the only time he slept with anything on. “I should make you sleep on the couch.”

A mock offended look appeared on Iris’s face and she pressed a hand to her chest. “You wouldn’t do that,” she stated confidently.

The Speedster rolled his eyes. “Wanna bet,” he threatened, even though they both knew there was nothing in it.

There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Iris. Even lying to keep her safe from the unspeakable evils that were out in the world.

***


	20. Arsenal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Starling City expat arrives in Central and needs the Flash's help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is to replace 'Tricksters', and contains spoilers for Arrow (3x19).
> 
> I could not have gotten through this chapter if it wasn't for the help of the amazing, cjharknessgirl <3 <3

A quiet day in Central City. Lately those were becoming less and less frequent.

In fact, Barry couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a day off. If he wasn’t running around the city, keeping Metahumans away and people safe as the Flash, he was holed up in his lab, catching criminals using science.

A day off and no Flash duties to speak of, Barry was more than ready to take advantage of the situation.

He didn’t have anything planned, specifically. The only thing he had planned was that he was going to wander around the mall, and buy whatever took his fancy. Within reason, of course. If he let Sebastian have free reign on their credit call in the mall, he would be bankrupt in a heartbeat. But at least he would be well dressed.

“ _ I’m not that much of a shopaholic _ ,” Sebastian grumbled.

Barry rolled his eyes.  _ “You buy a new wardrobe three times a year, Seb,”  _ he pointed out.

The mall wasn’t busy. It was the middle of the week, and most people were in either work or school. That was exactly what Barry was looking for; somewhere he could wander around without having to worry about needing to rely on Sebastian to deal with the crowds.

“ _ Can we at least buy something  _ I  _ like?”  _ his brother asked as they walked into the first store.

Barry chuckled to himself.  _ “I suppose, I could find  _ one  _ thing,”  _ he murmured.

***

Shopping with Barry - just Barry - was one of the most boring things Sebastian had ever done.

Usually when he went to the mall, it was with Iris and they had a tradition of going into almost every store and trying on clothes that they could never afford - even if they maxed out their credit cards - but that wasn’t the point. The point was that they had fun and it was a memorable day out for all involved.

But shopping with his brother wasn’t anything like that at all. Barry wasn’t a big fan of looking at things he knew he couldn’t afford and didn’t even like to shop in the same stores Sebastian and iris did.

It was all Sebastian could do to stay awake as they make their way from boring store to boring store.

The only solace he had was that Barry had finally conceded and agreed to pause the tantalising shopping trip for long enough to grab an iced tea.

Of course, that was where everything had started to go wrong. Barry heard the commotion before he saw where it was actually coming from.

“ _ Seriously? Is one day off too much to ask for?”  _ Barry grumbled in their mind as he and Sebastian switched places.

Sebastian didn’t reply. He was too distracted by what was happening. Almost a hundred feet away, a group of people were running out of a previously crowded store, screaming as they fled in all different directions.

Ignoring the fact that they were in public - they really couldn’t wait any longer to find out what was going on - Sebastian used his superspeed to change into the Flash suit.

The store that was being attacked was a discount clothing store - the kind that most people in Central City shopped in (pretty much everyone except Sebastian, it seemed). Clothes were scattered all around, and bags had cleared been dropped without a care, as the owners scrambled to get away from their attacker.

Sebastian skidded to a stop, looking around the store to see what had happened. It wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out. There were a gang of men, maybe five or six, trashing the store. They didn’t look too scary, Sebastian thought to himself. Certainly, not scary enough to make so many people - including security - run away screaming.

Those thoughts vanished almost as soon as they appeared when one of the guys - the smallest of the lot - picked up a display table with one hand and threw it across the store. He acted like it was made of tissue, not thick steel.

Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t possible; it couldn’t be. The last time they had seen anyone with that kind of strength had been back in Starling with Cyrus Gold and the Mirakuru. But Oliver had destroyed all that; he knew he had. There was no way this could be the same.

As distracted as he was, Sebastian didn’t realise that the hyped up criminal had turned his attention to him; it wasn’t often that the Flash came to a stop for most run of the mill criminals to mount an attack against him.

Before their attacker got close enough to do anything, and even before Sebastian had registered the movement enough to run away, something shot through the air. Sailing through the air, aiming straight for the crook, was an arrow.

A red arrow.

Sebastian didn’t have time to dwell on what the new arrow meant, or who it could belong to - even though he had a sneaking suspicion. The arrow didn’t bounce off the attacker like he would have expected - so not a mirakuru dosed soldier.

The projectile embedded itself in the other man’s chest, but even that didn’t slow him down. In fact, he was acting like there was nothing there. Nothing out of the ordinary that would stop a normal person.

Another arrow, still red, but much shorter and obviously fired from a crossbow rather than the bow Sebastian had expected. This one got the attackers attention, but it wasn’t the desired response. He turned his attention to the new savior.

An action which Sebastian couldn’t help mirror, without even thinking about it. He had been right about who his rescuer was. Wearing a similar hood and mask set up to Oliver, there was no mistaking who this hero in red was.

Roy Harper was in Central City.

Sebastian didn’t have time to dwell on that for long - or how hot Roy looked in the skin tight leather trousers - before the hyped up attacker dove at him.

Kicking himself into gear, Sebastian sprang to his feet and ran over to Roy, jumping between them and taking the brunt of the blow.

***

“Does he always do this?”

Sebastian recognised the voice, but couldn’t place it. He couldn’t work out who was speaking, or where he knew them from.

“Just on any day that ends in a Y.” That was Cisco; he knew that voice almost as well as his own. 

But where had Cisco come from? The last thing he knew, he and Barry had been shopping in the mall. 

“He’ll be okay, though, won’t he?” the first voice asked, and Sebastian slowly started to realise who was speaking.

The hottie in red from Starling. Roy Harper.

Forcing his eyes open, Sebastian groaned at the bright light that assaulted his eyeballs. As soon as they were open, he knew immediately where he was. He was back at STAR labs, not lying on the floor of the mall like an idiot.

He was still wearing the Flash costume, but his mask had been removed now that there was no need for secrecy. Roy had already been brought up to speed about whose identity was hidden underneath the mask and hood.

Sebastian was a little fuzzy on how much Roy actually knew about  _ him,  _ though.

“What happened?” he asked, groaning a little as he pushed himself upright. An action he regretted immediately when the world tilted unpleasantly.

He felt hands on his shoulders, steadying him as he swayed dangerously. He glanced up to find himself looking into Roy Harper’s gorgeous blue eyes.

“ _ Seriously not the time or place, Seb,”  _ Barry’s voice reminded him in his head. For once, the constant presence of his brother actually managed to ground him, and return his thoughts back to what needed to be done.

“You thought it was a good idea to take a hit from a super strong metahuman,” Roy explained, not letting go of Sebastian in case he decided to take a swan dive off the bed he was lying on.

That explained the jackhammer in his head, Sebastian thought to himself. “I couldn’t let  _ you  _ get hit,” he mumbled petulantly. “Unless you have enhanced healing I don’t know about.”

“No.” A smirk tugged at the corner of Roy’s mouth. “Well, not anymore,” he corrected. When Sebastian looked at him in confusion, he waved his hand dismissively. “Long story. I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

He could feel Barry trying to take over, but before he let him, Sebastian managed to get out, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Roy looked surprised at Sebastian’s forwardness, but he managed to cover it up pretty quickly. “You shouldn’t have intervened,” he chided, somehow managing to sound disappointed with him and grateful at the same time. It was an impressive trick, Sebastian thought.

Sebastian shrugged a shoulder; the pain he had felt when he’d initially on waking was already starting to fade. “I’ll live,” he mumbled, swinging his legs around so he could get off the bed. 

Looking around, he saw that he had been right about where he was. He was back in STAR labs. Although, how Roy had managed to get him there, he had no idea.

Caitlin and Cisco were sitting at the desk, reviewing something on the monitors that Sebastian couldn’t see. Doctor Wells was nowhere to be seen, which didn’t surprise Sebastian at all. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he turned back to face Roy, finally taking the time to admire more than just his eyes.

The red leather seemed to fit him even better than it had the last time Sebastian had seen him. If that was even possible. Which Sebastian was pretty sure wasn’t. His hair was shorter than it had been before, and there was a tiredness behind his eyes that Sebastian most definitely hadn’t seen last time.

Something had changed dramatically between him leaving Starling City and Roy arriving in Central.

Instead of going straight for the jugular, Sebastian decided to feign innocence and ask, “What brings you to Central? And don’t say the shopping,” he added, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth when Roy opened his mouth.

The other man returned the smirk with one of his own, before becoming serious again. “I need your help,” he confessed, looking around him to make sure they knew he meant all of them.

Sebastian frowned, trying to wonder what was so bad that Roy needed  _ their  _ help and couldn’t ask for Oliver and/or Felicity’s help.

Before he could ask that Roy meant, in his usual blunt way, Barry brushed past him and said, “Of course, we’ll help.”

A relieved smile spread across Roy’s face and Sebastian couldn’t help smiling back in response. “Thank you,” he breathed. “I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

***

The explanations, it turned out, came over coffee at Jitters. It was the middle of the afternoon at that point, so most of the lunch time rush had already dissipated.

Roy had ordered him a mocha before Sebastian could even speak, and when he looked at him in surprise - that was Sebastian’s favourite, not Barry’s - he shrugged his shoulders self-deprecatingly. 

“Caitlin said that was your favourite, and Barry’s was just a caramel latte,” he explained.

Well, that answered the question of how much Roy knew about him, Sebastian thought to himself. 

“ _ I really need to start keeping track of who knows and who doesn’t _ .”

The corners of Sebastian’s mouth curled up in a smile. “See, now I’m afraid that whatever you’re going to tell me is really bad if you’re buttering me up with my favourite drink,” he murmured, sliding into a seat opposite Roy.

Roy chuckled and took a sip of his own Americano. “What if I said I wanted to say sorry?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Everything that happened in the mall was my fault. Buying you a drink for getting you hurt is the least I could do.”

Biting back the response that Roy could buy him a drink whenever he wanted, Sebastian cocked his head to the side. “Well, in that case, Mr Harper. Apology accepted and I’m listening.”

A relieved look spread across Roy’s face. “I had to leave Starling,” he began. “Oliver had been arrested for being the Arrow/“ Sebastian’s mouth fell open in horror, but Roy wasn’t done. “He’s been arrested before, but this time they actually had proof.”

Sebastian’s mind was swimming. He hadn’t heard anything about Oliver Queen being ‘outed’ as the Arrow, and he was pretty sure that would be big news, even in Central City.

“Is he okay?” Sebastian asked, searching Roy’s face for any sign that he was lying to him. He knew Oliver was as stubborn as Sebastian was, but he should have called him dammit. He would have been able to help. He didn’t know how, but he was sure of it.

Roy nodded once, a sharp, short movement that betrayed the seriousness of the situation. “That’s why I had to leave Starling. I stole his outfit and made some very public and probably very rash appearances around the city.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened. “You proved that there was no way the Arrow and Oliver Queen could the same person,” he realised, unable to keep the awe out of his voice. That Roy was willing to do something so dangerous for his friend spoke volumes about the type of person the younger man was.

“And when Roy Harper died in prison, the Arrow died with him,” Roy finished as though it was the most obvious solution to their problem.

“Are you insane?” Sebastian couldn’t help hissing, leaning across the table without even thinking about it. “You faked your  _ death _ ?”

He wasn’t appalled, or even really surprised, by Roy’s admission. They didn’t know each other very well, but what he did know about the red archer, Sebastian was sure that protecting his friends and those he loved was the top of Roy’s priority list.

In fact, Sebastian would even go so far as to say he was impressed.

“That’s why I need your help,” Roy continued, filling in the silence Sebastian had left open at the end of his statement. “I think someone back in Starling must have realised that I’m not really dead, and followed me out of the city. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go.”

Sebastian grinned and leant back in his chair. It had taken him a long time to admit it to himself, but he liked when people needed his help. And when Roy looked at him, with those big blue eyes, there was no way he could turn him down.

“What do you need from me?”

***

“I still think this is a stupid plan,” Barry grumbled, tugging on the collar of the Flash suit. It was starting to feel too tight; they really needed to lay off the junk food.

“Hey,” Sebastian complained, “it’s muscle; the suit’s just not made properly.”

Through his earpiece, he heard Cisco utter a bunch of words in Spanish - most of which sounded suspiciously like curse words - before snapping, “Lay off the suit, Seb, or you can make your own next time.”

Sebastian grinned and bit the inside of his cheek. It was fun to wind Cisco up, and the easiest way to do that was to mock-insult his tech; especially the suit, which the other man still classed as  _ his  _ regardless of how many times Sebastian insisted that since he was the one wearing it, he owned it.

“Guys,” Caitlin’s voice sounded, snapping their attention back to the problem at hand. “CCPD just had a call about a disturbance in the Royal Heights Mall downtown.”

“I’m on it,” Sebastian told her, switching back to what he had started to call his ‘superhero’ mentality. “Arsenal, you in position?”

Roy didn’t immediately respond and dread filled Sebastian before he even realised. When he finally spoke, Sebastian couldn’t help exhale the breath he’d subconsciously held. “In position.”

Sebastian didn’t wait for any further instructions. Using his speed, he ran across the city, heading for the Royal Heights Mall. It wasn’t a place he frequented often - despite how much Barry liked to resist, his tastes leaned more toward the higher end malls in the centre of the city - but there were a few gay clubs that had pretty lenient policies when it came to underage drinking, so both he and Iris had been pretty familiar with the area for a while.

“Remember,” Wells’ voice spoke in Sebastian’s ear, painfully reminding him that the Reverse Flash - because that’s who he was positive he was - was listening to every word they said. “Every metahuman has a weakness that you can exploit.”

The words sounded so simple from Wells. Like they were the easiest things in the world. Of course, he wasn’t on the front line about to take a hit for the team. It was him and Roy who would come off worst if this thing went south.

Sebastian bit back the snapped order for Wells to join in the fight and focused. He couldn’t let his emotions get the better of him. Joe was right, they needed to get all their ducks in a row before they did anything.

The mall was almost empty of people - in fact, Sebastian realised looking around, the only people who remained were the CCPD. When they had been devising their plan, Barry had involved Joe to make sure the possibilities for casualties was kept to a minimum.

“He’s going into Kohl’s,” Roy’s voice said, and Sebastian changed course mid-stride. He was outside the store in less than a second. 

He glanced around, but couldn’t see Roy anywhere - not that he expected to. The plan was that the red archer would keep out of sight until they figured out the meta’s weakness, or Sebastian needed him.

Whichever happened first.

Unlike the day before, the meta was alone, but that didn’t surprise Sebastian. Roy had told him that after he had been knocked out - he most definitely hadn’t blushed at  _ that  _ reminder - the gang had all fled in different directions.

Roy had been too pre-occupied with making sure that Sebastian was still alive, and hadn’t been paying much attention to where they had gone.

Apparently all but one goon - the one who had knocked him out - had decided to leave town. Either that, or they were laying low now that they knew the Flash was after them.

It was comforting to know that he still scared  _ some  _ of the bad guys in the city.

The meta - whose name Sebastian didn’t know, he just realised - was yelling obscenities (some of which were colourful, even for Sebastian) and smashing whatever section of the store he happened to be in front of.

“Language,” Sebastian tskd, drawing the meta’s attention to him. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

As someone who knew first hand how hurtful ‘mother’ jokes could be when you didn’t have, Sebastian generally didn’t make cracks like that. But this wasn’t a normal situation.

Well, he thought, it was becoming an almost-everyday occurrence. Really, he was amazed that Barry still had a job, considering how frequently they had to duck out to play superhero.

The meta snarled in response - clearly he felt the same way about ‘mother’ jokes as Sebastian - and threw a shop mannequin at him.

“ _ Don’t forget we need to find his weakness _ ,” Barry’s voice reminded him and he rolled his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten. How could he?

But, like with Wells, it was easy for Barry to tell him what to do. Sebastian was the one who actually had to exert himself to figure out what said weakness was.

Sebastian paused for a second, thinking to himself. Exertion. That could work.  _ He  _ had to make sure he consumed enough calories to counter balance the amount of energy using his superspeed zapped from his body. He didn’t think it would be too much of a stretch to assume that the other man was the same.

Maybe if he could get the meta to exert enough energy, he would be able to figure out what his weakness was.

Now that he had his mind set on what he needed to do, Sebastian found a new resolve. Something he could focus on, without aimlessly running around like a really fast headless chicken.

Sebastian ran a couple of laps around the meta, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face as the other started to get more agitated by Sebastian's actions.

“Anyone would think you were enjoying yourself,” Roy’s voice commented in his ear, making Sebastian grin even wider.

He was, even he could admit that. It was fun to play the superhero.

“ _ Superhero Sebastian Allen _ ,” Barry murmured smugly, but Sebastian ignored him. He  _ was  _ a superhero - he had given up fighting whenever someone called him that.

Like he’d said before, there were worse things to be called than a hero.

Picking up speed, he circled around the meta another couple of times before skidding to a stop.

Other than being spectacularly pissed off, the crook didn’t look too affected by Sebastian’s actions.

“I don’t think this is working,” he complained, his voice little more than a whine.

The meta moved to throw something else at Sebastian, but before he could pick the object up, an arrow sailed through the air, embedding itself in his hand.

Unlike before, this time the meta screamed in pain.

“Whoa!” Sebastian heard Roy breathe, and he couldn’t agree. “And, here we thought this was a stupid plan.”

Sebastian snickered, ducking to the side when the metahuman threw a table at him, calling him a name that surprised even Sebastian.

Kicking it up a notch, Sebastian startling circling the other man again. This time he didn’t pause to catch his breath; he just continued running around, trying to disorientate him even more.

“Get ready to shoot, Arsenal,” Sebastian called, his breathing getting more laboured as he got faster. He didn’t like calling Roy by a code - he could barely stomach being called ‘The Flash’ - but he knew that code names existed for a reason. It wouldn’t do for some meta, or even a reporter, to hear that Roy Harper was in town and working with him.

“Just keep running, Flash,” Roy instructed, sounding distracted as he focused on the task at hand.

Idly, Sebastian wished he could actually  _ see  _ the archer. He imagined Roy would look incredibly hot with such an intense look on his face.

“ _ Would you take a leaf out of his book and concentrate?”  _ Barry snapped, pulling Sebastian’s attention back to the mall and not wherever Roy was.

After another few turns, the meta was starting to lose energy. Focusing on Sebastian and how fast he was going, and throwing things at the speedster was clearly draining his power reserves.

“Now,” Roy instructed.

As soon as he heard the command, Sebastian skidded to a stop, chest heaving as his body tired to refill his lungs with the much needed oxygen he’d been depriving them of.

Without giving either meta chance to recover, the red arrow Roy had been aiming for a while sailed through the air and embedded itself into the stronger meta’s chest.

Sebastian was pretty sure he should probably feel some kind of horror at how easy it seemingly was for Roy to take someone down.

But then, he couldn’t help wonder what he would have done differently if he had been in Roy’s position and the other man had been on the front line.

***

“You know,” Sebastian began, stuffing his hands in his pockets and shuffling from side to side. “You don’t have to leave.”

Roy grinned, but otherwise didn’t speak as he continued loading the trunk of his car with his Arsenal gear.

“We made a pretty good team back there.

Finally Roy stopped and and turned to face Sebastian. “We did,” he agreed. “But I can’t stay. It’s too soon after leaving Starling for me to settle in the first city I land in.”

Logically, Sebastian knew that Roy was right, especially considering he’d already brought a meta human with him. Who knew how many others were out there, gunning for The Arrow? But, there was also a big part of Sebastian who didn’t want Roy to leave.

If Barry realised that Sebastian wanted to keep him around for the eye candy, then the CSI was smart enough to keep his opinions to himself.

“As long as you know that you can always come back,” Sebastian said, trying to keep his voice even. He was surprised by much he wanted Roy to stay. “Don’t forget to call me if you need  _ anything _ .” He held his hand out.

Roy smiled and placed his hand in Sebastian’s. “I will,” he assured the speedster. “Thanks for your help with everything, Bas.”

***


	21. Who Is Harrison Wells?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Sebastian find an interesting artefact in STAR labs and learn more about their future than they ever thought they would.

Things changed in Central City after Roy left. Sebastian hadn’t noticed it, until Barry pointed it out. He generally tried to not pay attention to anyone other than himself. 

Before, the Flash had been an inspiration to people in the city - just like they had vowed to themselves and Oliver, that he would be - but after what had happened in the mall with the meta-human and Roy, the public’s faith in the Flash seemed to be shaken.

It felt like they had forgotten everything Barry and Sebastian had done for the city. All their trust and admiration evaporated - seemingly overnight.

Since Roy had left the city, Barry had been finding excuses to spend more time away from the city. Even if doing so meant letting Sebastian go all the way to Coast City for pizza, instead of the local pizzeria near his and Joe’s house.

It wasn’t healthy, but running away from their problems was something the Allen twins were fantastically good at.

Not running away meant that he had to deal with the reality that Harrison Wells was the Reverse Flash.

And that was something neither Barry nor Sebastian were ready to do.

***

“I take it back, I take it back, I take it back,” Sebastian chanted like a little kid, as they arrived back at STAR labs.

Barry rolled his eyes and pulled the hood of his suit down. “I swear to god, Sebastian,” he grumbled. “Now is really not the time.”

“Wait,” Caitlin interrupted their argument. “What are you taking back?”

“My superpower,” Sebastian answered simply. When Caitlin frowned, he huffed impatiently and elaborated more, “A few weeks ago, we were talking about what super power we would want if we could chose.”

Barry nodded. “Seb picked teleporting,” he informed her. “Obviously, now he’s changed his mind.”

Sebastian grinned. “Did you not  _ see  _ how cool that was? He literally shapeshifted, right in front of us. If that’s not cool…”

His brother sighed and turned his eyes upward, shaking his head, as Caitlin pursed her lips in disapproval. “Whoever this is, they’re using the power to frame people, Sebastian,” she reminded him.

The speedster pouted, all his previous enthusiasm dissipating as quickly as it had arrived. “Well, yeah, but…” He trailed off with a huff, “Fine. Do we know when all this started?”

As quickly as the laughing, jokey tone of the conversation had settled over them, it disappeared and they were back to business. As depressing as that was to think about.

***

“He did WHAT?” Sebastian’s voice echoed through the room.

Caitlin giggled, practically stuffing her hand in her mouth to stop it from becoming a full blown laugh. “Kissed me.”

Now that Bates had been caught and was residing firmly in the pipeline, they finally felt comfortable relaxing a little as they waited for Cisco to return from Starling City with Joe. His friend revealing that she had been kissed by someone impersonating him was not what he had expected.

“That… That’s just wrong,” Sebastian breathed, pulling a face at the thought. 

Across from him, a blush crept over Caitlin’s face and she shrugged. “It wasn’t  _ that  _ bad,” she argued.

Her whispered confession made Sebastian raise an eyebrow in surprise. “Really?” he purred, pushing himself upright.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. “I don’t mean like that,” she told him with a wave of her hand. “It was just, unexpected and… nice to be taken by surprise for once.”

Sebastian grinned and got to his feet. Reaching down, he grabbed Caitlin’s hands and pulled her up.

“Seb, what are you-,”

She broke off when he placed his lips on hers, kissing her more passionately than Caitlin could remember being kissed for a  _ very  _ long time. And definitely far better than the fake-Sebastian had, she noted distractedly. After a few minutes, he pulled away, chuckling at the dazed look on her face.

“Sorry about that,” he apologised, stepping back so she could compose herself again. “I just wanted to make sure that Bates kissing you wasn’t the only thing you thought of when you look at me.”

A small smile spread over Caitlin’s face and she raised her hand to her face, running her index finger over her lips. Just when Sebastian was sure he had made a mistake, trying to rid the image of Bates kissing her from her mind, she chuckled and said, “Wow. The guys you take home are  _ very  _ lucky.”

Sebastian threw back his head, and laughed loudly, throwing an arm around Caitlin, just as Cisco walked through the door.

“I thought I said you weren’t allowed to have fun without me,” Cisco complained, dropping his bag to the floor and falling into a chair.

The pair of them exchanged amused looks, before laughing loudly. Cisco pouted, but before he could ask for more answers, Sebastian waved his hand. “You don’t want to know,” he stated. “Trust me.”

Before Cisco could complain about them not keeping him in the loop, Caitlin pulled out of Sebastian’s grip and crossed the cortex. Pulling Cisco into her arms, she hugged her friend tightly. “How was Starling?” she asked, not liking the serious look which appeared on his face.

“Not good,” he answered. “We were right. Wells isn’t who he says he is.”

***

Barry couldn’t believe it. All the time he had been in STAR labs, he had never imagined that there was a secret room, hidden away behind a wall, that was filled with future technology, and even Wells Reverse Flash suit.

Judging by the look on his friends’ faces, they had never expected to find something like this, either.

“Oh my god,” Caitlin breathed as soon as they stepped through the door. “I can’t believe it. You were right, Barry.”

Activated by the sound of Barry’s name, a disembodied - artificial sounding - voice echoed through the room. “Good evening, Mr Allen.”

Sebastian spun around in surprise, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. When he didn’t see anything, he tentatively said, “Erm, hello?”

Something was getting his attention from the corner, opposite the Reverse Flash suit. He couldn’t explain it, but he was being drawn across the room for some reason. Without conscious decision, he reached out and pressed the only button, on a waist-high white plinth.

Immediately, the wall behind him sprung to life and a newspaper headline appeared, projected onto the wall. 

_ FLASH MISSING VANISHES IN CRISIS _

“What the hell?” Cisco whispered from behind him, but Sebastian didn’t pay him any attention. He was too focused on the newspaper. Or more specifically, who wrote it.

The article, apparently from the year 2024, may have been about The Flash, but it was the by line which commanded the most attention.

The article had been written by Sebastian Allen.

***


	22. The Trap

_ The article had been written by Sebastian Allen. _

“Oh my god,” Caitlin whispered and Sebastian couldn’t help nodding in agreement.

Sebastian glanced back at the newspaper article, reading the headline and byline again. He couldn’t make out much of the actual article, but he didn’t honestly care. His brain couldn’t process much more, he was pretty sure of it. “How is that even possible?” Sebastian asked in confusion. “I can’t have written the article  _ and _ disappeared at the same time.”

Caitlin shrugged their shoulders, looking back at him helplessly. Apparently she understood even less about this whole thing than Sebastian did.

“Unless,” Cisco began softly, getting their attention, “what if the Flash who disappeared wasn’t  _ you _ , Sebastian.” The speedster frowned deeply, and Cisco continued, “What if it was  _ Barry _ , leaving you behind to write the article.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened and she quickly shifted her eyes from Cisco to Barry and Sebastian. “Maybe what happened with Blackout happened again,” she breathed, sounding like she could barely believe what she was suggesting herself.

“You separate again,” Cisco said, placing a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Mazel tov?” he offered hesitantly with a half-smile. He knew that Sebastian had wanted to remain separate from his twin, and by the look of it, he seemed to get his wish in the future.

“Hebrew,” the disembodied voice said again, making them all jump before Sebastian could reply. “Ancient language of the Jewish people.”

“Okay,” Sebastian stated, looking around, “what the hell was that?”

“Good evening, Barry Allen,” the voice repeated its earlier greeting. This time the newspaper transformed itself into a computer generated face of a woman. “I am Gideon.”

Barry looked around at Caitlin and Cisco in confusion, before turning back to the face. “You know who I am?” he asked, unable to believe what he was actually saying.

“Of course,” the AI replied as though the answer were obvious. “Bartholomew Allen. Director of Central City Police; CSI Division. Founding member of the J-,”

“Barry,” Caitlin interrupted, breaking through what Gideon had been about to reveal. “Maybe she knows about what happened to Sebastian.”

Barry’s eyes widened in realisation that she was right. She seemed to know more about  _ him  _ than most other people, so logically it made sense that she would know about Sebastian as well.

“Gideon,” he began said uncertainly, not really knowing what he was doing and feeling every bit a fool doing it.

“Yes?” the AI replied, sounding eager to help them.

“Can you tell us what happened to Sebastian?” Barry asked.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand,” Gideon answered.

“Sebastian,” Barry repeated. “What happened to him?”

Again, Gideon stated that she didn’t understand the question, making Barry sigh heavily, with frustration. It was obvious she wasn’t going to give him a straight answer; this was Wells’ AI, there was no way she’d be programmed to give  _ Barry  _ information about the future.

Before he threw in the towel completely, Caitlin placed a hand on his arm, diverting his attention back to her. “Barry, maybe you’re not asking the  _ right _ question,” she suggested. “Maybe try asking for details about Seb.”

For a second, Barry thought about what she was saying, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, before nodding his head. “It’s worth a try,” he agreed, turning back to the AI. “Gideon, can you give me as much information about Sebastian Allen as possible?”

This was apparently the correct question to ask, because immediately Gideon sprang into action. “Certainly, Mr Allen,” she responded as a flurry of data began to flash across the wall in front of them.

Page after page, image after image was displayed on the screen, each of them showing information about Sebastian, and only Sebastian. Ever since they had enrolled at Dalton as ‘Sebastian Allen’, Barry had grown used to his high school diploma and transcripts saying his brother’s name, but this was different. These documents showed Sebastian enrolling in classes Barry  _ knew  _ they hadn’t taken, graduating from Gotham University with Barry (almost top of the class).

Hell, Gideon even showed them a copy of Sebastian’s driving licence, showing his pass date as just before Barry’s actual pass date.

Before they could fully have a chance to process when they were looking at, Gideon began to speak, giving them the cliff notes version of the information she had displayed. “Sebastian Allen, born March 07 1989. Graduated Gotham University, 2008. Biological son of Henry and Nora Allen. Adoptive son of Joe West. Twin brother of Bartholomew Allen, and adoptive sister of Iris West. Husband of R…”

“Whoa!” Sebastian yelled, cutting Gideon off. “Married? Me?” he shrieked.

Cisco snorted and shook his head. “ _ That  _ was the part you picked up on?” he asked, clapping his friend on the back. “Look, this is good news. It means that you really do get separated again. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Sebastian frowned. “Well, yes, but…”

He trailed off when the alarm in Cisco’s hand beeped. Wells was in the building and getting closer. They needed to get out of there.

***

“What were you thinking?” Joe yelled when they had finished explaining what they had found. “To say that you’re four very smart people, that was the dumbest thing in the world. What if Wells had caught you?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Well, he didn’t,” he muttered, shrinking back a little when Joe glared at him. “We left the time vault exactly like we found it.”

Joe shook his head, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Time vault,” he grumbled. “I know we’ve seen a lot over this last year, but… time travel? Really?”

“I did it.” Sebastian shrugged.

“Excuse me?” Caitlin asked, frowning in confusion as she looked around at the rest of them. None of them seemed to know what he was talking about, but Sebastian wasn’t surprised. He’d not told any of them what had happened with Mardon.

Joe, however, knew exactly what Barry was talking about. “One of the two speedsters in their house the night their mom died, was Sebastian. The Flash.”

“Actually,” Sebastian interrupted. “If the newspaper we found is right, it’s more likely to be Barry than me.” Joe’s eyes narrowed, and Sebastian waved his hand. “But that wasn’t what I was talking about,” he stated. “I kinda already time travelled. By accident.”

He winced when the room around him seemed to explode with confused questions.

Sebastian sighed. “I was running to try and stop the city a tsunami from hitting the city. It was a few weeks ago.” He threw an apologetic smile in Cisco’s direction. “Just before you started getting those dreams.” He knew his friend had been experiencing weird dreams that seemed too vivid to be imaginary. He had just hoped the two things weren’t connected. Now, if looked like he didn’t have a choice but to face up to facts.

Cisco snorted. “Oh, you mean the ones where Wells uses his super speed to rip out my heart?” he muttered sarcastically.

“Yeah.” Sebastian screwed his eyes closed for a second. “What if they’re not dreams? What if they’re memories?”

Joe frowned. “I’m not following.”

Sebastian growled and stepped aside to let Barry talk; he was so much better at explaining stuff. “What Seb means is,” Barry began. “What if on that day, Cisco found out that Wells is the Reverse Flash. And Wells killed him for it.”

“But then I ran back a day,” Sebastian took over again, “and changed the timeline so  _ that  _ event never happened.”

Caitlin placed her hand on Cisco’s shoulder. “If it never happened, how can Cisco remember it?”

The speedster shrugged helplessly. He had been trying to figure that out for days, but he couldn’t think of a reason that was plausible to explain why Cisco had been remembering what Wells had done. “I have no idea,” he whispered. “But I think the important thing is that he  _ does _ .” He looked around at his friends. “Wells doesn’t know that Cisco remembers. Maybe we could use that to our advantage.”

The others were silent for a few moments, before Cisco finally spoke. “Guys, I think I have a really bad idea.”

***

Wells was dead. Joe had shot him. 

Logically, Sebastian knew that he shouldn’t be angry with his adoptive-father, but he was too far beyond logic to think clearly.

Harrison Wells had been the only thing stopping his dad from getting out of prison. They’d needed him to confess that he had murdered Nora Allen. Now, with him dead, Harry was stuck in Iron Heights with no hope of release.

Cisco yelped, getting Sebastian’s attention. “Whoa!” he yelled.

Spinning around, Sebastian saw exactly what had made Cisco jump. Wells was no longer Wells. He’d transformed into something else. Someone else. 

“I told you before,” Wells’ voice echoed through the room, emitting from the PA system. “I’m always one step ahead of you, Flash.”

Sebastian gritted his teeth, his hatred for Wells swelling inside of him. “Why are you hiding? Come out and show yourself, you coward!” he yelled.

A sinister chuckle echoed through the room, making them all shiver. “Now why on earth would I want to do that? You’ve seen what I’m capable of. You know what I can do.”

“You want to kill me?” Barry yelled, surprising them all. “Go ahead!”

_ “Whoa!”  _ Sebastian yelled inside their mind. “ _ Do you think you could  _ not  _ goad the evil speedster into killing us both?” _

Barry ignored him, unable to focus on anything other than the pure hatred he could feel coursing through him. 

“But before you do,” Barry continued, looking up as if Wells was on the ceiling. “Tell the police what you did; get my dad out of prison.”

Wells chuckled again. “Oh, I don’t want to kill you, Barry,” he corrected. “I will admit to wanting to kill Sebastian. For the past fifteen years, he has been nothing more than a hindrance to my plan, but I see now that removing him from the picture was never really an option. He’ll always be a part of you - even when you’re separated in the future - his influence on you is too strong to remove completely.”

Under normal circumstances, Sebastian was pretty sure that he would make a comment about knowing that he wasn’t as much of a bad influence as everyone thought he was, but it didn’t seem like the right time.

Contrary to popular belief, he knew when to speak up and when to keep his mouth shut. This was definitely a time to do the latter of the two.

“Besides,” Wells continued speaking, “that was before I realised that I needed you, Barry. Killing Sebastian would only had hindered your progress in becoming the Flash, and I couldn’t have that. I needed you, Barry Allen; alter ego included.”

***

Barry was pretty sure it was turning into the longest week ever. He hadn’t been able to sleep since their not-quite-face-to-face confrontation with Wells. Or whoever he was. And he was pretty sure that if he didn’t need the extra calories to stop from passing out, he wouldn’t have been able to eat anything.

They - him, Sebastian, Cisco, Caitlin and Joe - had tried everything they could think of to find Wells. But even they’d had to admit that it had been a pointless exercise. There was no way that someone as patient and conniving as the Reverse Flash was going to make it easy for them to find him.

No, it was starting to look like they were going to have to wait for Wells to find them.

His cell buzzing in his pocket was a welcome distraction from the thoughts that were swirling around his head. As usual, the Allen twins were trying to avoid thinking about what was happening. Although that was getting harder and harder to do.

“Yeah?” Barry sighed, answering the call as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb.

**“** Barry,” Caitlin’s voice came through the line urgently. “Wells has been sighted by the river.”

Dread immediately washed over Barry. “That’s where Eddie has taken Iris,” Sebastian breathed. “I’m on my way.”

He didn’t waste any time finding Joe to tell him where he was going, hell, he didn’t even wait until he was out of the building before using his powers.

If Wells thought he could get away with threatening Iris, then Sebastian was going to make him pay.

Sebastian arrived at the river just in time to see a now-familiar streak of yellow lightning just ahead of him. The speedster snarled and pushed himself forward, forcing himself to run faster. He needed to catch Wells; this was going to end tonight. This was over.

Obviously Wells had been expecting Sebastian’s arrival. That was close he would ever get to admitting that he walked into a trap. Wells sped across the river, actually walking across the water - something Sebastian had only managed to do once. Heading straight for Iris and Eddie.

It was obvious from how Eddie was crouched on one knee that he had decided to forgo getting Joe’s blessing (Sebastian was pretty sure their father would never agree to Iris getting married), and to just propose to Iris. 

Of course, as with everything else in their lives, something as perfect as a marriage proposal wasn’t going to go as smoothly as Eddie had planned.

Wells was so much faster than Sebastian that he actually had time to pause in front Iris, gloat, and  _ then  _ grab Eddie, before speeding away.

Sebastian was torn between doing what needed to be done - catching Wells - and making sure Iris was okay. He knew that this, what was going on, was bigger than them; this had consequences for more than just Barry and Sebastian.

But Iris was his sister. He couldn’t leave her alone, scared on the bridge, without making sure she was okay.

Dropping to his knees beside Iris, Sebastian made her jump in surprise and let out a small scream. 

“Hey, hey,” he tried to sooth her. “It’s okay. You’re okay. It’s only me.” For a second he forgot he was talking to her from behind a mask, but then he remembered that she was just as likely to calm down in the Flash’s presence than she was in either Barry or Sebastian’s. 

Relief immediately washed over Iris’s face, but it only lasted for a second, before she remembered what was happening. “He took him. The man in yellow took Eddie.”

Sebastian had to force himself not to snarl in response. Reacting that way would only scare Iris more than she already was. “I promise I’ll find him, okay?” he murmured, running his gloved hands soothingly up and down Iris’s arms.

“What’s happening?” Iris asked, her curiosity almost overriding her fear.

He wished they had the time to explain, Sebastian really did. But he needed to focus on finding Eddie and getting him back. “Listen to me,” he said, getting to his feet and pulling her up with him. “You need to go home. Don’t say anything to anyone.” He took a deep breath. “I swear to you, I’ll bring him back.”

Sebastian wanted to hug her tightly, kiss her and make her believe that everything he was saying would happen. But he couldn’t, especially when he was only half sure that he would be able to follow through on his promises. 

Instead, he grabbed her head, squeezing it tightly, before speeding off in the direction Wells had taken Eddie.

If he had been moving even a fraction of a second slower, he might have felt the spark of electricity that passed from his hand to Iris’s as he released her. And he might have heard her whisper, very faintly, “Sebastian?”

***


	23. Grodd Lives

The fear, the lingering sense of dread that hung around in his stomach long after the moment had passed, was starting to become a familiar presence in Sebastian’s life.

He hated it.

Fear was for the weak. It was something people used to control others. A vulnerability he’d refused to have since Woodward’s days of bullying Barry.

But now, with Eddie being kidnapped and Wells going on a rampage around the city, sometimes, fear was the only thing Sebastian could feel inside him.

“Your eye movement is completely normal,” Caitlin informed him, clicking her flashlight off and finally allowing him to blink. “No sign of neurological damage.”

Sebastian sighed and ran a hand over his face. He was getting sick of these metahumans who could get inside his head; purely because every time they did, Caitlin liked to take it as an excuse to do a medical on him.

Personally, Sebastian was starting to think that she just liked shining bright lights in his eyes.

“Do you think the thief might have been a metahuman who put the whammy on you, or something?” Cisco asked, sliding into one of the chairs opposite him.

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders, but it was Barry who answered their friend. “I don’t know,” he confessed softly. “When Bivolo got in my head, all I felt was anger. This was different. There was just this overwhelming  _ fear _ .”

Fear. There was that word again. It was following Sebastian around like a bad smell.

Cisco pressed a few keys on the computer, distracting Sebastian from his own self-loathing for a short while. 

“Looks like you both got whammied,” Cisco theorised as they watched the footage.

They heard heeled footsteps on the floor seconds before Iris’s voice said, “Then you know how it feels.” Sebastian’s head snapped up in surprise, but he couldn’t do anything to stop her seeing him. He was sitting, on Caitlin’s examination table, with his Flash suit on and cowl down.

“Hi, Sebastian.” She paused for a beat, before adding. “Or should I say ‘The Flash’?”

***

This couldn’t be happening. Both Sebastian and Barry had dreamt about telling Iris that they were the Flash for so long. It shouldn’t have happened this way. She shouldn’t have walked into STAR labs to see them in their costume.

It should have been better planned than that. He should have thought it through… 

Barry came to a stop, finally through with pacing. “Wait,” he said, turning and addressing his sister. “How did you find out?” He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything that would have given the truth away; not after being so careful for so long.

Iris smiled up at him from where she was sitting on the treadmill. “When I touched the Flash the other night, I felt a jolt of electricity,” she began. “The only other time I’ve felt that was when you were in a coma after the accident.”

She scoffed and shook her head, getting to his feet. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out sooner,” she murmured. “Neither of you are amazing secret keepers. Now that I think about it, you being the Flash is the only thing that makes half of the stuff you’ve done lately make sense.”

Barry pouted a little when she said he wasn’t good at keeping secrets, before reaching out to take her hand in his. “I’m sorry for not telling you,” he whispered, feeling relief when she didn’t pull away from him. 

That was something at least. There was no way she would be completely mad at him, and let him hold her hand.

Iris smiled and reached up, cupping his cheek with her hand. “It’s okay, Barry. I don’t blame you,” she soothed, running her thumb over his cheekbone. When he had relaxed a fraction, she scowled and added, “I blame Sebastian.”

“Me?” the alter ego shrieked, making Iris wince at the volume. “How is this  _ my _ fault? Barry’s as much to blame as I am! There are two of us in this body, you know?”

Iris rolled her eyes. “Barry would never lie to me about something like this,” she pointed out. “I don’t think he would even know  _ how  _ to lie. That’s all you, Seb.”

She had a point, even Sebastian could see that. But he wasn’t about to admit that out loud. His sister could be annoyingly smug when she wanted. Especially when she was in one of her moods, which she apparently was as it didn’t look like she was anywhere near finished.

“I’d expect the lying from dad - he’s always tried his hardest to keep stuff like this hidden, you know that. But, you…” Iris shook her head. “We’re best friends, Sebastian, and you’ve been lying to me for almost a year. It makes me wonder what else you haven’t told me.”

Sebastian shook his head, taking her hands in his. “There’s nothing, I swear. I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, Iris. Keeping this, all of this and what - who I am, secret from you has been the hardest thing in my life. I can’t say sorry enough.”

Iris pursed her lips at his words and Sebastian could tell she was trying her hardest to not cry with frustration. He knew how she felt, because even he was starting to feel emotional. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was terrified right then that he would lose his best friend over some stupid secret he hadn’t even wanted to keep in the first place.

Just when Sebastian was sure he really had lost her, Iris shook her head and rolled her eyes. 

“Oh come here, you big goof!” she instructed, pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around the speedster. “You’re not gonna lose me,” she assured him, making him wonder if she was a metahuman who could read his thoughts, or if he was just maybe that transparent. “I’m upset you didn’t tell me, but you’re still my big brother.”

They were only four months apart in age, but Iris had always referred to him as being her big brother. “I love you, Sebastian Allen. Even when you’re being an idiot.”

She leant up and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “I love you too, Barry,” she added, resting her head on Sebastian’s shoulder.

Sebastian smiled, not even caring as a stray tear found its way out of the corner of his eye. He could always blame that on Barry.

“I love you too,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against the top of her head. “I love you, so much.”

***


	24. Rogue Air

Sebastian had been in some dive bars over the years. Hell, there probably wasn’t a dive bar in Central City that he hadn’t been in, and in Ohio there hadn’t really been anywhere else a gay teenager had been able to frequent where they didn’t ask too many questions.

But even he could believe how gross the place he had found himself in was.

“ _ I still think this a bad idea _ ,” Barry’s voice echoed in his mind; his conscious ringing through, clear as ever.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but didn’t verbally respond. They’d already argued about what he was going to do, and Sebastian hadn’t been able to find another way to get what they needed. They couldn’t let all the meta-humans they had imprisoned die; they had been human once too. It wasn’t their fault that Wells had inadvertently turned them into freaks like he had Barry and Sebastian.

The figure at the bar - the one who really shouldn’t be as attractive as Sebastian found him (it wasn’t fair that Barry wouldn’t let him play for a little) - slowly turned on the stool, not stopping until he was facing Sebastian.

“Well, well, well,” he drawled in that  _ amazing  _ accent that managed to light a fire inside Sebastian. “If it isn’t the Scarlet Speedster.”

Sebastian sighed at the nickname - why couldn’t people just stick to ‘The Flash’. “We need to talk,” he stated. Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and crossed the bar, heading to the back where there was a private booth where they could talk.

He was definitely trying not to think about what else they could do in a private booth. Even though he would never admit it, Barry was right occasionally. There was a time and a place for everything, and this was definitely not the right time.

As soon as they were seated, he began talking, “I need your help with a problem.”

Leonard Snart’s eyebrow quirked up curiously. “Must be pretty desperate to come asking for  _ my  _ assistance, but I’ll bite.” Sebastian opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get the words out, Snart added a clause, “On one condition. Which one am I talking to? Barry… or Sebastian?”

Sebastian must not have been able to keep the surprise from his face, because Snart chuckled with genuine amusement. “What, you didn’t think I’d do my homework on you?” he retorted. “I’m not sure I understand exactly how it works - you’ve managed to keep yourselves pretty well hidden and there’s no official record of the Allens having twins. So I came to the next logical conclusion. Well, logical for Central City, anyway.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “So which Allen am I making the deal with?”

Sebastian gritted his teeth. He hated when bad guys - hell, even people in general - managed to surprise him. “Sebastian,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

Snart flashed him a grin and leant back in the seat, putting his hands behind his head as he regarded the speedster. “Well,  _ Sebastian, _ ” he purred. “I’m listening.”

***

It didn’t take long for Joe to find Sebastian. In fact, he was in the first place the police detective looked.

“Thanks for not saying, ‘I told you so’,” Sebastian muttered, not looking up as Joe approached.

Joe winced, that had been  _ exactly  _ what he had been about to say, but seeing his son, sitting near the doors to the pipeline, looking so dejected had almost managed to make him change his mind.

“But I did tell you so,” Joe replied gently, coming to a stop in front of Sebastian. “Repeatedly.”

Sebastian sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know why I thought I could do this,” he murmured, averting his eyes and looking at everything but Joe. “I’ve seen the way Oliver does things. He’s not afraid to just do whatever it takes to get when he needs. I’m not supposed to be afraid, either.”

The police detective frowned and sat beside Sebastian. “Why aren’t you supposed to be afraid?” he asked, before continuing without giving the younger man time to answer. “You’re not some magical person who’s only around to make Barry feel braver, Sebastian. You are a real person. Have you already forgotten what your dad told you?”

Sebastian shook his head, but didn’t otherwise speak. “You and Barry are twins. Not two halves of the same person, but two separate people. You’re supposed to feel every spectrum of the human emotion. Even fear. Especially fear.”

“What makes fear so special?” Sebastian muttered petulantly.

Joe sighed and wrapped an arm around the speedster. “Without fear, we’re no different from Wells and the rest of the bad guys in this city. Fear is what stops us from breaking the rules. It’s what stops us from doing what we want, when we want.”

“Fear is what makes us human, Sebastian,” Joe whispered, squeezing Sebastian’s shoulders. “Without that, we’re just as bad as the rest of them.”

***

The world was too small. Barry found it ironic that he had been so desperate to see the world as a kid and teenager, but had always been too afraid. Sebastian had been the one who insisted on taking a foreign exchange to Paris in their freshman year of High School; Barry had been too afraid.

Now, even Paris didn’t seem far enough way.

Wells - he couldn’t think of him as Eobard Thawne - was in prison; or at least as much of a prison as they had to offer at STAR labs. Barry had no idea what they were going to do with him going forward. Sebastian was all for beating the crap out of him and dumping him in Iron Heights in place of their dad.

Barry - always the more rational one of them - knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. Wells would never voluntarily confess to murdering his mom, and there was no way a normal prison would be able to even prove a challenge for a speedster.

Nope, they had to think of something else to do with him in the meantime.

Barry had stayed at STAR labs, pouring over idea after idea with Caitlin and Cisco. It had only been when he’d fallen asleep at the desk that they had bundled him in a taxi - he was too tired to exert the energy needed to run - and sent him home to sleep.

Not that he was going to be able to sleep. The confines of his childhood home were suffocating, and throwing the windows open only improved the situation a little.

He needed to go for a run. That would be the only thing to make him feel better. Unfortunately, Barry knew that Caitlin had been right; he was far too exhausted.

Just as he was about to fall onto the bed, he caught sight of something on his pillow and snatched it up. Holding the object made him realise he was lucky he hadn’t fallen down like he had been planning; there had been a green arrow on his pillow. Even though he healed quickly, Barry was pretty sure that an arrow in the eye would hurt like a bitch.

Turning the arrow over in his hand, Barry thought back to earlier that day. He hadn’t been expecting Oliver to make an appearance, even though he’d been the one to make the phone call. Well, Sebastian had done it. When the call had gone through to voicemail, he had left a very quick message, outlining what they needed him for, but he had managed to convince himself that they were going to have to capture Wells without Oliver’s assistance.

With the arrow, there was a cream envelope with Sebastian’s name in what he could only assume was Oliver’s handwriting. The green arrow couldn’t have been from anyone else. The letter felt heavy in his hands, and the nerd in Barry couldn’t help wonder if this would have been what it felt like to receive his letter from Hogwarts.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “It is far too late for you to be wishing Harry Potter was real,” he grumbled, tearing the letter open before Barry could stop him. He wanted to sleep, dammit.

Inside the envelope, there were two pieces of parchment like paper, which were filled with Oliver’s writing, front and back. 

“I would have never pegged Oliver Queen to be a love letter writer,” Sebastian murmured, before he began to read.

_ Sebastian, _

_ I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around to help you with Wells; and I’m sorry I ignored your call. I’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff at the minute. _

_ I need your help with something. It’s not safe to ask in person; hence the letter. For a number of weeks now, I have been training in a remote place called Nanda Parbat… _

***


	25. Fast Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts in Nanda Parbat during the events of Arrow 3x23, then moves back to The Flash 1x23.

If travelling had been as easy growing up as it was now, Sebastian knew he would have convinced Barry to let him go all over the world before they’d even graduated college.

Gone were the days when he had to wait in line at customs to board a flying tin can. 

Nope, now he could quite literally walk across water and continents in the blink of an eye. Well, maybe not that fast. It took him maybe five minutes to get from Central City to Nanda Parbat. But then again, that was only because gotten lost for a while in Turkey when he’d turned left instead of right.

He’d ended up in Saudi Arabia, before he realised and then he’d had to go back on himself to get back on the right course.

A natural compass apparently didn’t come as standard as part of the superhero package.

After the fiasco of him getting lost - which was totally Barry’s fault for guiding him wrong, not Sebastian’s - freeing Tatsu and rounding up a few stray members of the League of Assassins was almost too easy.

Skidding to a stop in front of cell where Oliver had told him the others would be held, Sebastian couldn’t help let out a slow whistle of appreciation. “Wow,” he breathed, running his hand over the door in front of him. “This is like, a real dungeon.”

“Barry! Sebastian!” Felicity exclaimed in part shock and part relief when she saw who had come to rescue them. Because that what he was there to do; rescue them. He was a superhero, after all.

Sebastian sighed and rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Felicity. For outing  _ both  _ my secret identities to a supervillain.” He shifted a little so he could see Malcolm Merlyn getting to his feet. “No offence.”

Merlyn smirked a little. “None taken. Now get us out of here!”

“ _ Bossy _ ,” Sebastian grumbled in their mind, but didn’t speak out loud. He had to focus his energy on opening the door without the key. A tricky problem at the best of times, but Sebastian had a feeling it was going to be even harder with a dungeon door.

Someone - Sebastian wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t him - let out a whoop of joy when the door finally vibrated enough to fall off the hinges and land with a crash on the floor.

They barely had chance to appreciate Sebastian’s skill, before Merlyn was leading them away from the cell and to what had to be the armoury - either that or someone had a penchant for collecting strange looking knives with varying degrees of sharpness.

“How many assassins do you figure?” Diggle asked, as no-nonsense as ever, collecting as many weapons as he could lay his hands on.

Sebastian grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “None,” he answered. “They’re all taking a little nap.” He knew it was childish to be acting so much like a… well, child. But he couldn’t help it. After everything that had happened recently, a little rescue in a foreign country was making him feel more like himself.

Reminding him of why he had agreed to let Cisco fuse the twins again after they had been separated. He couldn’t walk away from being a hero, any more than Barry could. It had just taken him a little longer to figure it out.

“Thank you,” Felicity whispered, pulling him into her arms. “Not to be greedy, but we could really use your help right now.”

Sebastian winced. “I would  _ love  _ to help you, I really would. But I… I can’t.” He sighed. “I am due one very overdue conversation with Harrison Wells. Besides,” he added, after a beat, “I’m sure Oliver had this covered.”

From across the room, Laurel snorted and shook her head. “Yeah, I wouldn’t bet on that.”

“Oliver hasn’t been very forthcoming with his plans,” Felicity explained when Sebastian looked at her in surprise. 

That wasn’t a surprise to Sebastian, so he had no idea why it was a surprise to anyone else. If there was one person who was good a keeping secrets - the best as far as Sebastian knew - it was Oliver Queen.

“Well, I don’t know what’s going on with Oliver,” he began. “Besides a bad haircut and a drastic change in fashion choices. But I know one thing that hasn’t changed.” He looked around at them, both him and Oliver’s friends. “He needs you guys. Even if he doesn’t think so.”

He placed a hand on Felicity’s arm, leaning down so he could press a soft kiss against her cheek.  “Good luck,” he whispered, before using his super speed to leave the building.

Thankfully he managed to get back to Central City without getting lost. Although, he did stop in Coast City for a pizza. Okay, fine - five.

***

“Hey,” Iris’s voice said from behind him. It wasn’t loud enough that she’d scare him - the last thing either of them needed was for him to fall off the building right then. “Thought I might find you here.”

Sebastian sighed and jumped down from the ledge of the roof - on the right side of the building, obviously. “I needed to get out of the lab,” he replied, brushing some dirt away from the brickwork before leaning where he had been standing. “I thought this would be a good place to think.”

Even Barry hadn’t been able to help him decide on whether he should accept Wells’ offer. It should seem too good to be true - go back in time, and save his mom from certain death. Surely that kind of opportunity shouldn’t exist, but yet here Wells was, offering it on a platter in exchange for his ticket home.

Iris smiled as she crossed the roof, standing beside her brother. “Oh it is,” she assured him. “Trust me. I’ve done a lot of thinking up here.” A small smirk appeared on her face. “When I wasn’t having clandestine meetings with the mysterious  _ streak _ .”

Sebastian groaned and screwed his eyes closed. “Yeah. I’m not mad we lost that name.”

A laugh echoed around the rooftop as Iris mock-pouted. “What, you didn’t like it? I thought it had pizzazz.”

“Definitely not,” Sebastian argued with a shake of his head. “Besides, I was always going to be ‘The Flash’. I just needed to figure out how best to give you the idea.”

A comfortable silence settled over them for a few minutes, before Iris softly asked, “Are you gonna do it?”

The speedster groaned and let his shoulders slump. “I have no idea,” he answered. “It’s just such a huge decision. It’s the biggest decision of my - our - life. If I’m wrong, I can’t undo it. This time it’ll be permanent.”

“Would you want to?” Iris asked in disbelief, earning her a confused look from Sebastian. “You’d get to see your mom again, Seb. You’d have your dad back, could have a great career, get married.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Barry would get to have all those,” he corrected her. “If we stayed normal - if we had stayed human; never became the Flash - there’s no way we’d ever be able to separate again. You heard what Wells said in the pipeline. Barry and I have always destined to be apart in the end, but without the particle accelerator - without meta humans and all this other  _ stuff -  _ I have no idea how that’s even possible.”

“If I do go back and change things, then I’ll be trapped in the same body as my twin brother for the rest of my life,” he whispered. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about that.”

Iris sighed sympathetically and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know this is a big leap, but you don’t know what the other timeline might hold. Who knows, you might end up changing something so huge that you end up  _ never  _ joined with Barry.”

“I’m not planning on going back that far, Iris,” Sebastian corrected her, although he did offer her a smile in response. He knew what she was doing - trying to make the decision they both knew he was going to make, easier on him - and he loved her all the more for it.

He suddenly straightened up, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “What if I change the past, and end up… straight?”

Iris laughed and rolled her eyes. “Of all the things you could be concerned about,  _ that’s  _ what you decide to focus on?” she muttered. “Don’t worry, Seb. I’m sure that, if you do end up straight in this parallel universe, we’ll be soul mates and end up married with lots of cute, but yet somehow still annoying babies.”

***

Sebastian had visited this moment so many times in his dreams. For the last fifteen years, he had been picturing the night his mother had died. He had seen it so many times that he practically had the scene memorised.

Everything was exactly how he remembered it as well. Nothing was out of place, his mind hadn’t shifted things around. He recalled everything as clear as he had the day it happened.

The day his life had changed forever.

“ _ Time to change it again _ ,” Barry murmured inside his mind, making Sebastian feel a little bit better. They had come to the decision to go with Wells plan together, but that didn’t mean that Sebastian hadn’t been a little concerned that he had accidentally managed to coerce his brother into agreeing with him, to keep Sebastian quiet.

It wouldn’t be the first time, after all.

“MOM!” Sebastian heard a familiar voice - his younger self’s - yell from the floor below. He was too late. It couldn’t be. He’d arrived back at exactly the moment Wells had told him to. He couldn’t have missed his opportunity.

Rushing through the house and down the stairs, Sebastian paused at the slightly open doorway. He wasn’t too late. His mom was kneeling on the floor of the lounge, tears streaming down her face as she screamed at Barry to get out of there. 

Barry had been too afraid to heed her advice then, but Sebastian knew that he needed to do something now. Just as he pushed the door open, one of the blurs running around Nora - the Flash - paused and turned to look at him.

What happened lasted less than a second, but to Sebastian, who felt like his entire world was being torn apart, it seemed to go on forever.

The Flash shook his head and held up his hand. “Please, Sebastian,” he whispered, his voice barely audible in the din of the room. “You know this isn’t right.”

Even if Sebastian didn’t know that it was Barry underneath the red cowl, there was no way he wouldn’t recognise that voice. It was a little deeper -  _ Hey, your voice finally breaks _ , he teased Barry - but it was still his brother.

The brother who obviously knew what he had been planning on doing. Sebastian was no expert, but even he knew that the only way the Flash could know meant that he had done the exact same thing the Allens were doing then.

He had gone back in time to save Nora and hadn’t been able to do it. They had failed, just like they were always destined to.

As quickly as they had arrived, the Flash and Reverse Flash disappeared in a blur of red and yellow lightning. Leaving Sebastian and Barry alone with Nora.

“Please,” Nora begged as soon as she saw that she was no longer alone. “My husband and son.”

Sebastian shook his head, crouching down beside her. “They’re okay,” he assured her. “They’re safe. I promise.”

“Who are you?”

She didn’t have long left, and it absolutely destroyed Sebastian that there was nothing he could do to save her. The Flash had been right; this - going back in time - wasn’t the right way to do anything. But, sitting by and watching as she died alone? There was no way in any universe that Sebastian would let that happen.

He reached up and pulled off the mask, making her gasp in surprise. “You look just like my father,” she whispered, reaching up with a shaking hand and running it down his cheek.

“This isn’t going to make any sense,” he warned her through his tears. “But it’s me, mom.”

Her eyes widened. “Sebastian.” That hadn’t been the name he’d expected to fall past her her lips, but he didn’t care. Her knowing who he was - that he wasn’t Barry, that he was Sebastian - was further proof that Henry had been right.

His mom had always known about his existence. 

“Oh, my beautiful boy,” she cooed, even as pain clearly wracked her body. “Is Barry okay?” she asked, making Sebastian smile.

Barry half-sobbed, half-laughed in response. “I’m right here, mom. We’re both okay, so is dad. We love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” Nora murmured, the pain finally starting to take hold. “I adore both of my gorgeous sons.”

***

“Sebastian,” Professor Stein said, grabbing hold of the speedster’s arm and pulling him back. “That event has an energy level of at least 6.7 Tera Electron Volts.”

The Speedster huffed and glared at Stein. “Honestly, do you really think that means anything to me?” he murmured.

“It cannot be stopped,” Stein explained, managing to hide his annoyance at Sebastian not knowing what he was talking about - barely.

“Oh,” Sebastian murmured, looking up at the sky. That wasn’t news to him. He had figured that he was facing an impossible situation, but after the day he’d had - hell, after the  _ year  _ he’d had - he figured an attempt at one more impossible thing, couldn’t hurt. “I have to try, professor.”

He didn’t give them any more time to try and talk him out of it; Sebastian knew what needed to be done. He didn’t have a choice.

Taking a deep breath and focusing on the speed force, Sebastian set off running up the side of the nearest building. He wasn’t going as fast as he had to travel back in time, but he was still running faster than he had recently.

With one last burst of energy, he dove off the building and into the singularity. Except he wasn’t the only one who did.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see flames and in those flames he could make out the outline of a person.

FIRESTORM.

That was the last thing Sebastian saw before there was an explosion and everything went black.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, with that cliffhanger, I am done with season 1. :-)
> 
> This has taken me longer than I would have liked to finish, but I am glad I refused to let this become another one of my abandoned fics.
> 
> I have huge plans for season 2 - especially when it comes to certain character development plots and relationships - and I can't wait to share them with everyone. I just hope you all stick around.
> 
> Thank you for being patient and staying with me though this :-D Love you all!


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